


Tears of Blood

by LovelyLadyLuck



Series: The Kallig Clan [9]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Betrayal, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Bashing, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Families of Choice, Heavy Angst, In Medias Res, Internal Conflict, Love, Love Confessions, Major Character Injury, Near Death Experiences, Pre-Femslash, Quinncident, Starts in the middle, Threats of Violence, True Love, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:54:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28494918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LovelyLadyLuck/pseuds/LovelyLadyLuck
Summary: Wrath and Ruin, Revelations and Regret: together, they are a classic recipe for tragedy. A tale of betrayal, turmoil, manipulation, and pain; of bonds forged and bonds broken, and the war between the heart and the mind.The Quinncident, in four parts plus an epilogue.
Relationships: Female Sith Warrior & Jaesa Willsaam, Malavai Quinn & Jaesa Willsaam, Malavai Quinn/Female Sith Warrior, Vette/Jaesa Willsaam, hints of
Series: The Kallig Clan [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1846168
Comments: 9
Kudos: 13





	1. Wrath

**Author's Note:**

> So I have lots and lots of _thoughts _about the Quinncident, mainly that it's stupid, but I'm going to save my rant about that for the final author's note in the epilogue.__
> 
> _  
> _This story is told In Medias Res, and for those of you who weren't made to read The Odyssey in high school, that means it starts in the middle, and then goes back to the beginning a little ways in. I decided that telling this story in this manner was the best way to preserve the suspense and really make the impact hit hard._  
> _
> 
> _  
> _Content warning for violence, grievous personal injury, and lots of blood. If that's not your thing, turn back now.__  
> 

Focus character: Jaesa  
Point in timeline: Just before Corellia

Jaesa shifted in her seat, unable to concentrate on the game of sabacc that Vette and Pierce had talked her into playing with them. The strange uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach kept drawing her attention from her cards, and her companions had clearly noticed. They kept glancing at one another, and looking quickly away from her whenever she turned her head to look at either of them. 

She sighed, and laid her cards down on the table, uncaring that they were face-up. She looked towards the ramp of the ship, wanting to get up and pace but settling for bouncing her leg instead.

Vette groaned, and slumped backwards in her chair. “Jaesa, seriously, if you’re not going to take this seriously then what’s the point?”

Jaesa winced. “I’m sorry, it’s just…”

“Just what?” Vette asked, clearly annoyed.

“My master and Captain Quinn should have been back by now. They should have been back at least ten minutes ago, really. I think something is wrong.” Jaesa confessed.

Pierce scoffed, but said nothing. Vette shot a short glare at the hulking man, before turning back to Jaesa and offering reassurance. “Look, you heard what Captain Tightwad said, they gotta get the transponder, and the ship looked pretty big when we approached. And you know how they are, they’re not gonna want to hurt the people on that ship if they don’t absolutely have to, so they’re probably just being extra super sneaky about the whole thing. Don’t get all worked up for nothing.”

Jaesa shook her head, but subsided, not wanting to get into an argument with them.

At that moment, they heard a strange noise coming from the entry ramp. They all looked up, and Jaesa paled at the sight of Quinn staggering up the landing ramp carrying her master in his arms. Lady Irtaya was clearly wounded badly, and was completely unconscious, her limbs hanging limp. Blood dripped from a wound on her head, and her normal headscarf was missing, revealing her white hair had been stained with blood.

“Oh gods, what happened?” Vette yelled, as all three of them jumped up to help him. “Is she-”

Quinn shook his head, eyes wide and manic. “There’s no time, she needs the medbay _now. _She’s bleeding internally.”__

He pushed past them into the medbay, and Vette looked at them, wide-eyed. “What do we do? Do you think she’s gonna-” 

“Don’t think about that. We need to get out of here.” Pierce cut her off. 

Jaesa nodded. “He’s right, we can’t stay here, clearly this ship is full of Baras’ people. Vette, can you get the transponder from Quinn while Pierce sets a course? I’ll guard the door in case anyone tries to attack us.” 

Vette nodded. “No problem.” 

Pierce grunted and headed towards the bridge. Vette emerged from the medbay after a minute, with a grim expression on her face. 

“Hey, bad news, Quinn doesn’t have it. He didn’t say anything else, and I didn’t want to distract him from treating her, because she’s even worse than we originally thought. I think he must have dropped it coming back, or left it where they were ambushed because he was so focused on the boss.” 

Jaesa sighed, but nodded. “I’ll go get it, I can cloak myself in the Force and be back before anyone notices me. Keep an eye on the entry, all right?” 

Vette nodded. Jaesa grabbed her saberstaff and held it tightly as she carefully stepped down the entry ramp. Her stomach churned as she saw that her master had left a blood trail on the ground, but felt almost thankful that at least she had a clear path to follow. She snuck down the hallways of the ship, listening carefully for any approaching footsteps so she could cloak herself. But something struck her as off, though she couldn’t quite place what it was. She turned a corner, and gasped in shock at the sight. 

The smoldering, sparking wreckage of two giant war droids, each over twice her height, lay in heaps on the floor. The smell of tibanna gas hung in the air, and black oil leaked out of the droids into puddles. There were smears of blood on the walls, as well as dents and scorch marks. She crept past the scrap that was the first droid, and looked down to see a man’s severed head lying on the ground. 

Jaesa covered her mouth to muffle her scream, and her heart raced frantically in her chest. She couldn’t place who the man was-or who he had been, rather. His skin was pale, and there was no hair on his scalp. Actually, it looked...melted, as if it was nothing more than a wax figurine left out in the sun too long. His eyes had been replaced with cybernetics, and there were scars and burns all over what she could see of his face. Something about him was familiar, but she couldn’t say she really recognized him. Moving past, she saw what must have been his body, judging from the lack of a head. The neck stump was burned black, cauterized. A lightsaber wound, then. Her master had killed him, but not without nearly being killed herself. 

Hurrying now, Jaesa moved towards the navigational equipment at the other side of the room and retrieved the transponder, silently thanking Captain Quinn for all his lessons on piloting and navigating. She moved silently back towards the _Valkyrie, _still uneasy about the whole situation. Something wasn’t right, but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was.__

_____ _ _ _

When she re-entered the _Valkyrie, _she looked around but didn’t see Vette or Pierce. “Hello?” she called cautiously.__

 __

____

___Vette burst out of the medbay, breathing hard and nearly frantic. “Jaesa, great, you’re back! Quick, you need to help me, Quinn just keeled over and I need help getting him in the other kolto tank.”_ _ _

___Jaesa ran into the medbay, and when she got through the doorway she saw Captain Quinn lying on the floor in a rapidly expanding pool of his own blood. “Vette, the kolto isn’t going to be enough, he’s losing blood too fast.” she explained, dropping to her knees next to him and tearing at his uniform to find the wound. “We’ve got to stop the bleeding first, and he’ll need blood replacer too.”_ _ _

___Vette stood watching as Jaesa found the source of the blood, a large, ragged gash stretching from the point of one hip down to the top of his thigh. It was deep, but luckily hadn’t hit any of his arteries or the largest of the veins in the area. “Vette, I need you to hand me as much of the clotting stuff as you can find, and start warming the blood replacer in the thing. And bandages, lots of them.” Jaesa ordered, trying to keep her voice steady as she took in Quinn’s injury._ _ _

___Vette didn’t move, and when Jaesa turned around she saw that her friend’s eyes were wide as saucers, fixated on Quinn’s leg, and her face had gone pale._ _ _

___“Vette?” no response. “VETTE.” the blue girl jumped and made eye contact with Jaesa, still clearly terrified. “Vette, hand me the clotting powder and the bandages. Now.”_ _ _

___Vette nodded, still shaky. “Uh, yeah, sure, uh, no problem.” she began to frantically open and close drawers to find what she needed._ _ _

___“The clotting factor is in the second drawer under the oxygen machine, and the bandages are in the cabinet above it.” Jaesa nodded her head in the correct direction. She couldn’t point without taking pressure off of Quinn’s leg, which she couldn’t afford to do. Vette dug through the drawer, and after a moment triumphantly held up her prize. She grabbed three of the packets of clotting powder and dashed over to Jaesa, pouring it where she was directed to. It took seven of the packets and an agonizingly long time, during which Jaesa watched Quinn’s face become even paler than he normally was, but the bleeding finally stopped. Vette sighed in relief, but Jaesa shook her head._ _ _

___“We aren’t done yet. This wound needs to be bandaged, and he needs at least three bags of blood replacer, probably more. Can you start warming the replacer while I wrap his leg?” she asked Vette._ _ _

___Vette nodded. “Sure, I think so. Seems easy enough.” she rose and walked somewhat steadily to the other side of the medbay, careful not to slip in Quinn’s blood on the floor. Jaesa tried not to think too hard about the size of the puddle, and determinedly blocked out all worry from her mind to focus on the man in front of her. She had carefully cut away his trousers to get at the wound, and bound his thigh as tightly as she could with strips of white gauze and pressure wrap. Vette walked over with the now-warm bags of blood replacer. “Here. We’ve only got one more bag, he used the rest on the boss. I can’t believe he managed to get her taken care of and into the tank before he dropped, look at him!” Vette remarked, for once speaking of the Captain with something resembling respect._ _ _

___Jaesa nodded. “It must have been the adrenaline, it just kept him going until it simply couldn’t anymore. Can you bring the hanging pole over here?” she nodded to the metal stand on wheels kept in the corner to hang the bags of blood replacer on._ _ _

___Vette rolled it over, and watched curiously as Jaesa found a vein in Quinn’s arm and inserted the needle. The blood replacer began to flow into his veins, and both women breathed a sigh of relief._ _ _

___“He isn’t out of the woods yet, but I think we weren’t too late. The only thing left to do is get out of here and wait.” Jaesa said._ _ _

___Vette nodded. “Here, give me the transponder and I’ll go get it set up. You stay in here with them. Where’d you learn to do all that anyway?” She asked._ _ _

___Jaesa smiled wryly as she handed Vette the transponder. “From Quinn. I’m no medic, not like him, but I can do a little bit. I’d hoped I wouldn’t ever have to use it like this, but I’m thankful that I did.”_ _ _

___Vette grinned. “Well, now the student has become the master! Let me know if you need any more help, yeah?”_ _ _

___Jaesa nodded, and Vette left. Jaesa carefully lifted Quinn onto one of the medical beds using the Force, mindful of the IV line, and summoned 2V to clean up the blood and disinfect the floor. She had just switched the second bag of blood replacer out for the third, when Vette came back into the medbay looking pale._ _ _

___“Uh, Jaesa, you’re gonna want to come see this. It’s bad. Really bad.”_ _ _

___Concerned, Jaesa followed her out to the projector area, where Pierce waited with a grim expression on his face. Her stomach churned._ _ _

___“What is it? What’s going on?” Jaesa asked._ _ _

___ _

___“There’s no special signal on the transponder. In fact, there’s nothing on it - it’s completely unmarked. And while you were gone, Quinn kept muttering something about ‘not supposed to happen’. I didn’t think much of it, but when the transponder came up empty…” Vette trailed off._ _ _

___“When the tag came up blank, I got suspicious. Didn’t seem right to me, Lady Irtaya being so badly injured but Quinn somehow getting out of it. So I got Vette to hack the comms.” Pierce filled in, disgust evident in his tone._ _ _

___“You won’t believe what we found. It’s pretty broken up, there’s only a few bits of audio and only a little more video, but it’s not pretty.” Vette warned._ _ _

___She pressed a button on the data pad she held, and the projector came to life. The image was shaky, wavering back and forth, but she could make out the forms of Captain Quinn and Lady Irtaya. Quinn was looking down, flanked by two giant war droids that looked like the wrecked ones she had seen, and holding something in his hand. He faced Lady Irtaya, who was gripping her lightsabers in a ready stance. Vette pressed another button, and the image began to move._ _ _

___ _

The audio cut in and out, but they were able to make out Quinn saying, _“Baras...true master...you killed. Droids...combat you...no failure.” ___

Jaesa’s eyes widened, and she clutched the fabric of her robe. The video cut out as the droids advanced on her master. “What? How can that be? Quinn’s no traitor.”

Pierce scoffed. “Or so we thought. But the holocam doesn’t lie.”

Jaesa shook her head, still reeling with what she had seen. “When I went to get the transponder...there were two war droids on the floor, and a decapitated corpse. I thought it was an ambush, but…” she trailed off. She was suddenly struck with another epiphany, and gasped. Vette and Pierce turned to her in concern, and Vette touched her shoulder gently. “I just realized what seemed so wrong about that ship. It was completely empty, except for the transponder room. If it was in active service like Quinn said, there would have been a crew onboard, and lots of resistance. But there was no one.” she whispered. 

Vette winced. “Yeah, that screams ‘trap’ to me. And this whole setup was way too convenient.” 

Jaesa frowned. “I still have trouble seeing Quinn as a traitor. If he was, why would he bring my master back to the ship? Why not just leave her there? And why would he betray her in the first place? He adores her, anyone could see that.” she wondered. 

Pierce made a noise of disgust. “Clearly not enough. I looked through his stuff while Vette was fiddling with the cameras, and I found a datapad in there with droid plans. He planned this whole thing, even programmed the damn things.” 

Jaesa buried her face in her hands. “Stars, I can’t...I never sensed anything off about him at all, how is this even possible? I should have...I never got any feeling of deception from him, nothing, but he did this?” she muttered, rambling through her guilt. 

Jaesa felt Vette wrap her arms around her shoulders and squeeze gently. “Hey, this isn’t your fault, don’t be like that. None of us suspected anything, even the boss was fooled.” Vette said to try to console her. 

Jaesa inhaled a ragged breath, then nodded. She looked into the other woman’s violet eyes and gave her a small smile, which Vette returned. 

“She’s right, Jaesa. Besides, we’ve got a bigger problem to deal with now: Quinn. He’s a traitor, and we’ll have to deal with him since the Lady’s out.” Pierce cut in. 

“What do you mean by ‘deal with him’, Pierce?” Jaesa asked cautiously. 

Pierce grunted, and crossed his arms over his massive chest. “We should just throw him out the airlock now and be done with it. Won’t waste any more medical supplies on ‘im, and saves us the trouble of a court martial. It’s better than he deserves, anyhow.” 

Vette seemed hesitant. “I don’t know, Pierce. I mean, he deserves to be punished, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think killing him is the right thing to do here. I think the boss would want a say in what happens to him, too.” 

“So what should we do instead, then? Just let him go unpunished? He can’t be allowed to remain free.” Pierce retorted. 

___ _

Jaesa inhaled a shaky breath, and spoke up quietly. “He’s badly injured, and I don’t think he’ll regain consciousness for a while. He’s no threat to anyone now. And besides, he still outranks all of us, since my master hasn’t stripped him of his position and rank, so I don’t think we _can _do anything to him. My master is the only one of us with the authority,” She prayed that what she said was true. She had no idea what sort of rules applied to this situation, if any did, and the man she would usually ask was currently incapacitated. Something about the situation still didn’t sit right with her, and she was determined not to act rashly until she’d solved the mystery.__

_____ _ _ _

Vette and Pierce glanced at each other, and Jaesa breathed a silent sigh of relief when they both relented. She privately resolved not to let either of them be alone in the medbay until her master awoke, for fear they’d decide to harm Quinn anyway. 

“Look, let’s just get out of here, the last thing we need is another one of Baras’ cronies coming to find us and finish the job.” Vette sighed, and headed for the bridge. 

Jaesa turned to return to the medbay, but was yanked back by Pierce’s large, meaty hand on her shoulder. He glared at her furiously, and she trembled. 

“I don’t know what you’re trying to do, _Jedi, _but if you’re a traitor too I won’t hesitate to throw you out the airlock.” he growled.__

_______ _ _ _ _ _

Jaesa jerked her shoulder out of his hold, backing up a few steps. “What? Why would you think I’d do something like that?” she gasped, rubbing her shoulder. 

Pierce narrowed his eyes. “Apprentices betray their masters all the time. And why would you be defending Quinn, when you saw the proof of what he did? If you’re so _loyal.” _he sneered.__

_______ _ _ _ _ _

___Jaesa tried to steel herself, but still quailed at the anger in the giant man’s eyes. “I just have a feeling something isn’t right. I don’t know what.”_ _ _

___ _

He scoffed. “Convenient.” She was about to retort, when he waved a hand in dismissal. “Keep him alive, if you want. Won’t make a difference in the end. But just know I’ll be watching you, _Jedi.” _He stomped off for the men’s bunks, and Jaesa was left alone in the large room.__

_____ _ _ _

___Her stomach churning with fear and confusion, she returned to the medbay to check on Quinn and Lady Irtaya. 2V had thankfully cleaned up the mess they’d made, but Quinn was still deathly pale, and breathing shallowly. The droid had covered him with a warming blanket to compensate for his condition, and he was about halfway through the bag of blood replacer. Lady Irtaya bobbed in the kolto tank, and now that Jaesa actually had the time to get a good look, she saw that her master was bruised all over her body, with the largest stretching nearly the whole length of her right side. Her right wrist was bound in a splint, and her hair was loose from the bun she normally wore it in during missions. Floating in the softly luminescent blue liquid, her white hair flowing gently around her and nearly reaching her knees, she looked otherworldly, and so much softer than the stern, unyielding image she normally presented.___

______ _ _ _ _

She preoccupied herself with attaching all of the various necessary monitors to Quinn, too full of a roiling mass of emotions to keep still, and not wanting to dissect them at the moment. She placed the breathing mask over his face as he’d shown her, and attached the heart monitor to his chest. She just couldn’t reconcile what she’d seen on the projector and the datapad with what she knew of the man lying before her. She knew Vette didn’t like him, and Pierce hated him, but she never had. He’d never been anything other than unfailingly polite to her, even kind. When she’d asked him to teach her about the medical tasks he performed, he’d been a willing and patient teacher, never dismissing her questions as stupid or brushing off her concerns. And when she’d gathered up the courage to ask for piloting lessons, his only requirement was permission from Lady Irtaya, since the _Valkyrie _was her ship.__

 __

___ _

___Jaesa shook her head to clear her thoughts. She couldn’t think about that now, she needed to focus on keeping him alive. She remained in the medbay throughout the night, and was vaguely aware of the few times Vette came to check on her. She never acknowledged the twi’lek’s presence, though. She knew it would start an argument between them, and she didn’t want that right now. And she was loath to fight with Vette anyway; the tentative flirtation between them was still fragile, and she feared souring whatever it was they had._ _ _

____

___The next morning, she was awoken from her light doze by the screeching of one of the alarms she’d attached to the Captain. She jerked to her feet, and saw Quinn was awake, sort of. He was sitting up, pushing off the blanket, and the movement had caused the heart monitor to come off of him, triggering the alarm. She rushed to his side, grabbing his arm to steady him. He jerked back in alarm, his eyes wide._ _ _

___“Quinn, it’s me. Calm down,” she pleaded, holding her hands out in front of her. The alarm continued to shriek, and she quickly turned around and shut it off. When she turned back to Quinn, she saw he had managed to stand from the bed, and was stumbling towards the kolto tank where Lady Irtaya floated._ _ _

___She heard pounding footsteps approaching, and then fists banging against the door to the medbay. She was thankful she’d had the foresight to lock it, as she was sure Pierce would not hesitate to attack if he saw Quinn at that moment._ _ _

___“Quinn?” she whispered, turning back to the injured man. She received no response, until she laid her hand on his shoulder, which earned her a jerk and another wide-eyed stare. “Quinn, it’s me, Jaesa. Please, come sit back down on the bed before you make yourself worse.”_ _ _

___He said nothing, but allowed her to guide him back to where he’d previously been resting. He sat, and buried his head in his hands. Guilt and self-loathing poured off him in waves, along with fear and regret. His shoulders shook, and she stood watching him for several long moments, conflicted. He was still too impaired from the drugs for her to get a proper read on him using her power, but the image he presented now didn’t mesh with the traitor he was, that her crewmates thought him to be._ _ _

___The pounding of fists continued, and she heard Vette and Pierce shouting her name, demanding she let them in. She ignored them for the moment, and draped the blanket back around Quinn’s frame. He looked back up at her, and she felt her heart wrench at the despair in his blue eyes._ _ _

___“Quinn, can you remember anything? Can you tell me what happened?” she asked gently, hiding her desperation for answers._ _ _

___He opened his mouth, but when he tried to speak to her, he grimaced in pain and clutched at his throat with one hand. He shook his head, and she understood. “You can’t speak, can you? Your vocal cords are damaged somehow?” he nodded, and she sighed in frustration. “Oh, no. that’s not good.” she turned and looked at the medbay doors, which had gone quiet. She could feel Pierce’s rage and Vette’s determination, and she knew they were trying to find another way to open the door. It wouldn’t take them long._ _ _

___She looked back at Quinn, and saw dawning resignation on his face. She swallowed hard._ _ _

___“Quinn, look at me.” She said quietly, shoving down her rising fear. “I’ll do what I can to help you until my master wakes up, but you need to tell me one thing: is she going to die from her wounds?”_ _ _

___He looked at her in confusion, but shook his head no. Jaesa heaved a sigh of relief, but felt Quinn’s consciousness fading again. She pushed him to lie down on the bed, and placed the mask over his face again just before the doors to the medbay shot open. She whirled around to see a red-faced Pierce stomping towards them, Vette shutting a control panel on the wall outside the medbay. Jaesa trembled, but stood between the helpless Quinn and the approaching man.___

 _ __ _

“And just what was that about, _Jedi?” _Pierce thundered, before he noticed Quinn had regained consciousness. “Ah, the traitor’s awake. Should question him, find out what he thought he was doing."__

_____ _ _ _

___Jaesa stood as tall as she could, which really wasn’t very much at all, but remained in between Quinn and Pierce. “He can’t speak. I already tried.”_ _ _

___Pierce glared at her. “How convenient. He’s still awake, he’ll have to be dealt with now before he can finish what he started.”_ _ _

___A small spike of fear came from Quinn, but Jaesa didn’t look away from Pierce. “What do you mean? We decided we weren’t going to do anything to him.”___

 _ __ _

Pierce leaned into her space. “ _We _didn’t decide__ _shit, Jedi. _I decided that it was more important to get out of reach of Baras’s people than to argue this with you. And now I’m pressing the subject. We’ve got to deal with ‘im."__

____ _ _

__

__“How?” Jaesa whispered._ _

__

__Vette walked in and crossed her arms. “We should lock him up, so he can’t get to the boss. Then when she wakes up she can deal with him.”_ _

__

__Pierce rolled his eyes. “We don’t have a brig. ‘Sides, he’s a traitor, why would she want to see him?” he pointed out._ _

__

__“We could lock him in the cargo bay. And I really think she’d want to deal with him herself, Pierce.” Vette shot back. “And besides, look at him. He can’t hurt anyone in this state.”_ _

__

__Pierce’s face turned dark. “She’ll just kill him anyway. Might as well save her the trouble.”_ _

__

__Jaesa’s stomach turned. She had to say something, had to keep Pierce from shooting Quinn. But what could she say? Pierce had already accused her of also being a traitor, and he could very well convince Vette of that suspicion too, and then she’d be unable to do anything. He might even throw her out the airlock with Quinn. Her legs shook. Fear rose through her._ _

__

__“Vette’s right.” she blurted out. They both turned to look at her in surprise. “My master will want to deal with him herself, and besides, he’s the only medic here. She might still need him.” she said, desperately trying to keep her voice calm and not entirely succeeding._ _

__

__“But you have medic skills too,” Vette pointed out. “Couldn’t you treat the boss if she needed it?”_ _

__

__Jaesa shook her head agitatedly. “No, not as bad as she’s hurt. She’s got some sort of brain injury, I think, and I only know basic stuff. Quinn is the only one who knows how to really treat her.”_ _

__

__Pierce crossed his arms. “One problem with that: he’s the one that tried to kill her. What’s keeping him from doing it again if we let him near her to heal her?” he probed._ _

__

__Jaesa tried to shove down her rising hope. Was he coming around? “We can watch him while he’s with her, if that becomes necessary. I should be able to tell if he’s trying to hurt her.” she offered._ _

__

__Pierce sniffed. “Should be able to tell? What good is that?”_ _

__

__“I can still sense intentions. I’ll know.” she stated._ _

__

__Pierce eyed her, then Quinn, barely conscious now, and huffed. “Fine. Lock him in the hold.” Jaesa sighed with relief. “But don’t waste any more supplies on him. If he really needs them he can have bandages, but nothing else. We need to save it for the boss.”__

__

____ _ _

____

Jaesa bit her tongue, not wanting to press her luck with the volatile man. He stomped out of the medbay, but Vette remained. Jaesa exhaled shakily, and turned to check on Quinn. She still wasn’t sure exactly what had happened on that empty ship, but the feeling that something wasn’t right was growing stronger, and she had learned by now not to ignore it. But still...she had seen the footage, and the droid plans on Quinn’s datapad. He _had _tried to kill Lady Irtaya. But it didn’t make sense.__

____

_____ _ _ _

____

___“Here, I’ll help you move him to the cargo hold.” Vette said, coming closer._ _ _

____

___Jaesa shook her head, and the other woman stopped. “No, I’ll do it alone. I don’t want to risk jostling his leg and the bleeding starting up again.”_ _ _

____

___Vette pursed her lips in disapproval, but nodded. “Fine.”_ _ _

____

___Jaesa wrapped one of the flimsy medical gowns around Quinn’s body, and carefully lifted him with the Force. He had lost consciousness again at some point, but she could feel his life force inside him. Weaker than usual, but steady now. He’d be all right for the moment, but there was no telling how long that would last without proper treatment. Treatment he wasn’t going to be allowed to receive._ _ _

____

___She spread one of the blankets she’d brought with her on the floor, and gently set Quinn down on top of it before covering him with the other one. She could feel Vette watching her with keen eyes, and had to force herself not to quaver under the scrutiny._ _ _

____

___“Why are you helping him? You saw what he did.” Vette asked her._ _ _

____

___Jaesa didn’t turn around. “He’s still a person, Vette. He’s wounded and he needs care.”_ _ _

____

___Vette scoffed. “He’s a traitor. I may not want him dead, but he still should be punished.”_ _ _

____

___Jaesa whirled around, fists clenched. “And does that give us the right to act as judge, jury and executioner? It wasn’t us he committed any crime against. It was my master.”_ _ _

____

___Vette looked down for a moment. “And now we’re all in even more danger because of what he did. I know you grew up hearing all about fair justice and truth and whatever, but this is real life. It doesn’t always work that way.”_ _ _

____

___Jaesa didn’t know what to say to that, but it didn’t matter. Vette turned and walked away, leaving her with the unconscious Quinn. Jaesa quickly walked to the galley, retrieving a bottle of water and a ration bar for him, and grabbed a datapad on her way back to the hold. Pierce was sitting in the main room as she crossed it, and she could feel his eyes burning into her the whole time. She placed the water and rations next to Quinn on the floor, then stared at the datapad in her hand. She had intended to write a short message for Quinn to read once he regained consciousness, to tell him something of what was happening, but she knew Pierce would read it. She couldn’t afford to give him any more reason to suspect her of treason, not if she was going to keep Quinn alive until her master was awake. With a heavy heart, she stowed the datapad in the pocket of her robe and left the cargo hold, locking the door behind her. She returned to the medbay to check on her master, still feeling Pierce’s eyes on her the whole way._ _ _

____

___She waited until Vette and Pierce retreated to their bunks for the night, and she could feel that the both of them were deeply asleep. She rose from her own bunk as quietly as she could, and slipped into the medbay. Her master still floated peacefully in the softly glowing kolto, unaware of the events transpiring around her. Jaesa collected some bandages from the drawer, and a set of the plain black clothes that were kept as replacements for any damaged clothing. She crept into the cargo hold, and saw that Quinn was awake, although his signature was still fuzzy. Whether from blood loss or some sort of head injury, she couldn’t determine._ _ _

____

___She knelt next to him. “Quinn?”_ _ _

____

___He looked up at her, eyes cloudy. Her stomach churned. She forced a shaky smile, although she doubted he found it very reassuring. “I’m going to check your leg, all right?”_ _ _

____

___He squinted, then nodded slowly. She folded back the top blanket and the edge of the medical gown, and looked at the bandages she’d wrapped around his thigh. The low light in the room made it hard to see, but she couldn’t risk turning on the main light and alerting the others. His wound didn’t seem to have reopened or started bleeding again, though, so she breathed a low sigh of relief and replaced the blanket._ _ _

____

___“Quinn, look at me,” she whispered. She waited for his eyes to meet hers before she continued, “I’ll come check on you when I can, and I’m going to do what I’m able to keep them from harming you until my master wakes up. I’m sorry I can’t do more than that.”_ _ _

____

___He blinked slowly a few times, but then seemed to understand. His arm moved under the blanket, and she nearly jumped when she felt his fingers brush her wrist. He wrapped his hand around hers, and gently squeezed. His grip was shaky, and just that small action seemed to exhaust him. He closed his eyes again and brought his arm back under the blanket, leaving Jaesa alone with her tumultuous thoughts and feelings. She stood to leave, and made sure to lock the door behind her. As she passed the medbay, she peeked in to check on her master one last time, and had to cover her mouth with her hands to stifle a scream when she was met with the blank red gaze of 2V. Taking deep breaths to calm her racing heart, she backed away and scurried back to her bunk. The droid had seen her sneaking about at night, but at least it couldn’t tell Pierce or Vette. She was never more thankful to her master for removing the droid’s vocoder out of annoyance._ _ _

____

___The next three days passed in a tense near-silence; she was careful to maintain a semblance of her normal routine, to avoid any more suspicion from Pierce, and continued to sneak out only at night to check on Quinn. The second night, she changed his bandages, and she grew concerned at the heat emanating from him. She inspected the wound as best she could, but without proper lighting she couldn’t determine anything. The morning of the third day, she awoke with a gnawing, fluttering dread in her stomach. Something was going to happen, she could feel it.___

____

______ _ _ _ _

____

And at midday, _something _happened. The alarms attached to Lady Irtaya’s kolto tank began to blare, and she rushed to the medbay to investigate. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw her master’s eyes open, then quickly shut again against the bright lights of the room. Jaesa turned them to half the normal level, which Lady Irtaya seemed to find more comfortable. She looked around from where she floated in blue liquid, before pressing her palm against the transparisteel of the tank.__

____

__

____

___“Vette, grab her some clothes and her boots, would you? I’m going to start draining the tank.” Jaesa said over her shoulder, trying to keep her voice steady._ _ _

____

___Vette nodded. “Sure. Let me know if you need help getting her out of there.”_ _ _

____

“Thank you.” 

____

___Jaesa pressed the buttons to drain the tank as Vette left the room, and retrieved one of the towels kept for just this purpose from the cabinet. She waited for the tank to drain completely before releasing the seals and opening the door. Her master had already removed the breathing mask from her face, and was leaning against the back of the tank taking deep breaths of the relatively fresh medbay atmosphere._ _ _

____

___Jaesa silently offered her the towel, and Lady Irtaya took it with a nod of thanks. She wrapped it around her shoulders, and began to stand to her feet. Vette walked in with the clothes, and shut the medbay door behind her to give them some privacy._ _ _

____

___“Here you go, boss! You’ll still need about five showers to get all that gunk off you, but for now at least it should do. How you feeling?” she chirped._ _ _

____

___Lady Irtaya, now on her feet and remarkably steady, clutched the towel around her middle. “Thank you, Vette. I appreciate it. As for your question, ask me in a few minutes once I’m fully awake again.”_ _ _

____

___Vette laughed. She dropped the clothes on the nearest bed and turned away so Lady Irtaya could have some semblance of privacy to dress. Jaesa did the same._ _ _

____

___“How long was I out?” she asked.___

____

___ _

____

“Three days and nights, master. You were severely wounded, and lucky that Captain Quinn got you back here in time.” Jaesa answered. Her stomach was full of knots, and anxiety coursed through her blood. Something was _wrong. ___

____

__

____

___“I was. And where is Quinn? Normally he attends any injured crew members. You may both turn around.” she said._ _ _

____

___They did, and saw Lady Irtaya standing in black trousers and a soft long sleeved top several sizes too big for her. She’d slipped into her boots, and was doing her best to remove as much of the still-wet kolto from her long hair as she could with the towel._ _ _

____

___Vette glanced at Jaesa, but she didn’t return it. Just looked at her master._ _ _

____

___“He’s locked in the cargo hold, boss. So he couldn’t get to you.” Vette said._ _ _

____

___Lady Irtaya looked up sharply, going completely still for a moment. “What?”_ _ _

____

___“Master, he’s been in the cargo hold for three days. I don’t think he’s doing well.” Jaesa added quietly._ _ _

____

___If her master’s face could have paled, it probably would have. Instead, she threw the towel to the floor and strode to the door. “Take me to him, immediately.”_ _ _

____

___Both women knew not to argue with her when she used that tone. Jaesa followed behind her, Vette running ahead to unlock the door. They heard her swear under her breath when the door flew open, and broke into a run._ _ _

____

___Quinn was lying on the floor, completely insensate. He’d thrown off the blanket at some point, and his body was soaked in sweat. The worst part, however, was his leg. The bandages were caked in yellow-green pus, and red streaks radiated up and down his thigh from underneath the wrappings. Her heart sank; she’d suspected the wound was becoming infected, but she hadn’t known it was this bad._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___Lady Irtaya made a strangled sound, and threw herself onto the floor next to him, running her hands over his face and through his hair._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___“No, no no...please, no, stars…” she muttered under her breath, barely audible._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___Jaesa knelt next to him as well and checked his pulse. It was thready, but still present._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___“Master, he needs a kolto tank, and he should have been in one yesterday. We need to move him now if he’s going to survive.” she murmured._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___Her master nodded, and seemed to shake herself free from whatever emotions had gripped her mind. Carefully, they lifted him off the floor and brought him back to the medbay. Lady Irtaya frantically prepared the kolto tank, while Jaesa removed the wrappings from his leg. Her stomach turned at the sight, and the smell; a sickly-sweet stench filled the room as she removed the gauze, a clear sign that something was terribly wrong. She prayed that it wasn’t too late._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___They somehow managed to put him in the tank without reopening the wound, and as they stood watching it fill with kolto, Lady Irtaya laid her palm against the transparisteel, eyes filled with anxiety._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___The moment didn’t last long, however, as a moment later Pierce came barreling into the medbay with Vette trailing behind him, face red and thunderous. His anger was palpable, a bitter taste on Jaesa’s tongue._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___“What the hell’s going on here? Why’s he in the tank?” the giant man demanded.___

____

______ _ _ _ _

____

Lady Irtaya turned around slowly, danger clear in every smooth movement. “Because he’s injured, and for _some _reason, he was denied the medical care he clearly needed. Care to explain that?” she inquired, looking at the members of her crew.__

____

__

____

___Jaesa gulped, and said nothing. Vette looked at Pierce, uncertain. He crossed his arms over his massive chest, and growled, “He’s a traitor, m’lady. He didn’t deserve it. I would have thrown ‘im out the airlock, but these two insisted he be kept alive.” he jerked his chin towards Vette and Jaesa._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___Lady Irtaya inhaled raggedly. Her face betrayed nothing, but Jaesa could feel her fury rapidly rising to incredible heights, to a level of white-hot fire she’d never seen before from anyone, particularly not her normally level-headed master. She looked down, feeling sick._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___“We saw footage of what happened, boss. We saw him turn the droids on you.” Vette said softly, nervous. “We thought you’d want to deal with him yourself.”_ _ _

____

___ _

____

___Lady Irtaya closed her eyes, and Jaesa backed away slowly. She could feel the air thickening, and almost swore that it crackled with some form of electricity, though lightning was not a talent her master possessed._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___“And so you thought the best way to accomplish this was to lock him in the cargo hold and deny him treatment?” she snapped, voice sharper than the finest edge of a blade. “I cannot do anything meaningful with him if he’s a corpse.”_ _ _

____

___ _

____

Pierce shrugged, uncaring. “Didn’t know he’d gotten that bad, m’lady. Didn’t care to look in on ‘im.”

____

___ _

____

“Did _anyone _check on him while he was in there?” she questioned, her tone too steady and even to be anything but furious.__

____

_____ _ _ _

____

___Vette began to chew on one nail, her nervousness growing. All was silent for a moment, except for the sounds made by the kolto tank._ _ _

____

___ _

____

“I did.” Jaesa whispered. “But I didn’t…"

____

____

Lady Irtaya clenched her fists, eyes still closed. “Didn’t _what, _Apprentice?”__

____

__

____

___“I didn’t know he’d gotten this bad. I suspected his wound was infected, but I didn’t think I could do anything about it.” she admitted. “Lieutenant Pierce forbade me from doing anything other than giving him bandages.”_ _ _

____

___ _

____

The Lieutenant glared at her, and she shrank further back against the bulkhead. Lady Irtaya opened her eyes to glare at Pierce.

____

____

“You did _what?” ___

____

__

____

___Pierce ignored the clear danger in her voice, and sullenly grumbled, “I didn’t think-”_ _ _

____

___ _

____

___Lady Irtaya cut him off with a raised hand. She turned around to face the kolto tank, breathing heavily. Vette looked quickly between Jaesa, Pierce, and the angry Sith, her fear rising still higher. Jaesa could smell ozone in the air now, and the lump in the pit of her stomach grew colder._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___Her master pressed one palm against the tank and looked at Quinn floating inside. Her hand clenched into a fist, and she whirled around. Jaesa wanted to vomit._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___Lady Irtaya’s eyes were no longer their normal clear grey; now, they had turned a sickening crimson, the flames in them threatening to burn them all to ash. Pierce only then realized how wrong he was, and began to babble out an apology that was swiftly cut off with the application of the Force to his beefy neck._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___“You had no right! No authority!” she screamed, voice amplified unnaturally. “You bloody idiot! If you’ve killed him, if he dies from this, I will give you more pain than any being on any world in this galaxy has ever known!”_ _ _

____

___ _

____

___Pierce’s face was rapidly turning purple, and he scrabbled at his throat as if to tear away the invisible hands pressing against his windpipe. His nails left deep gouges into his flesh, and blood ran down his skin and soaked into the fabric of his uniform.___

 __

____

___ _

____

Vette’s face was now pale, and she slumped, shaking, against the wall. Jaesa covered her mouth, wide-eyed. Lady Irtaya ignored them both. She stepped forward, and a malevolent smile spread across her face. Jaesa felt another spike of fear in her gut. The sight of her master like this was just so _wrong. _She stomped past Pierce, yanking him around to follow behind her. There was real fear emanating from him now.__

____

___ _

____

___She dragged him to the cargo bay, where Captain Quinn had been kept. With a grunt and a vicious motion of her arm, she hurled him into the hold. He hit the opposite wall, hard, and fell with a crash into the crates below._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___“You will remain in here until I decide what to do with you,” she snarled. “If you’re lucky, I won’t turn you over to my sister to be used as an experimental subject.”_ _ _

____

___ _

____

The door slammed shut, and she locked it, setting it to only open to her personal biometrics. Then she turned her gaze on Vette, who squeaked with fear and froze.

____

____

“And you, Vette? What part did _you _play in this situation?” she asked, voice even now. Her eyes, however, still glowed that terrifying red. With her long hair still bedraggled and clumped with kolto, she presented an almost feral reflection of her normal self. She was petrifying.__

____

__

____

___Vette gulped. She shook her head, quivering with fear. She opened her mouth, but nothing emerged._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___Jaesa felt her gut coil. She pitied Vette for a moment, being on the receiving end of those eyes, but said nothing._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___Just like she’d said nothing when Pierce proposed harming Quinn when he was helpless and unconscious._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___Just like she’d said nothing when she’d first suspected something wasn’t right._ _ _

____

___ _

____

And all the times she’d stayed silent over the past days despite her growing doubts about their judgement of Quinn.

____

____

___ _

____

_No. ___

____

____

___ _

____

___She stepped forward, carefully putting herself between her master and the woman she had come to care for. She flinched when Lady Irtaya turned that burning gaze onto her, but held firm._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___“Master, Vette didn’t do anything. Not really. Pierce was the one who wanted Quinn dead and suggested harming him. Vette-”_ _ _

____

___ _

____

___“Didn’t do a damn thing.” Lady Irtaya snapped. “She just stood aside and let it happen.”_ _ _

____

___ _

____

___“But we saw him try to kill you!” Vette protested from behind Jaesa. “I was just trying to protect you!”_ _ _

____

___ _

____

___“I need no protection, not from him!” she yelled. She took a few deep, ragged breaths, attempting to steady herself. “For your sake, I suggest you stay out of my sight, or I might decide that you should join Pierce.” she threatened._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___Vette squeaked again, and ran for the bunkroom. Jaesa braced herself for her portion of the interrogation._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___It didn’t come. Her master just strode past her back to the medbay. She stood frozen for a moment in shock before turning to follow her. She crept carefully down the hallway, but froze again just before she reached the medbay when she heard the sounds coming from inside.___

____

__

____

___ _

____

“Please, please live, oh _stars. _Don’t leave me, please don’t leave me here alone.” she heard her master pleading softly, sounding as if she were about to cry.__

____

____

___ _

____

___A lump rose in Jaesa’s throat, and she swallowed. It took several minutes, but once she felt she could speak without weeping, she took a deep breath and tapped lightly on the doorframe. “Master? May I enter?” she asked cautiously._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___She heard Lady Irtaya inhale a short breath, then give permission in a low voice. When she entered, she was struck by the tableau that met her gaze: her master, always calm and collected, utterly in control of herself and her emotions, with never a single hair out of place, sat curled up in a chair next to Quinn’s kolto tank. Her hair was loose and clumps stuck together from the kolto still caked on, haphazardly brushed back from her face. Her face was buried in her hands, shoulders slumped in defeat. She looked...broken._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___Jaesa’s heart wrenched, and she felt as if she might cry again. She was more certain than ever that something bigger was going on, because this scene made no sense otherwise._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___She stepped closer, until she stood next to Lady Irtaya. Her master didn’t look up. She stood there for a long while, watching Quinn float in his tank. According to the readouts on the monitor, his fever had reduced slightly, but his heart was still racing and his blood pressure was lower than it should have been._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___“Master, I…” she trailed off, not knowing what to say._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___Lady Irtaya sighed. “Go ahead, Jaesa. I’m not going to harm you. I can tell you aren’t at fault here.”_ _ _

____

___ _

____

___Jaesa looked down. “But I am. At least partially. I didn’t do anything to prevent this, and I should have done more to help him.”_ _ _

____

___ _

____

___Her master looked up sharply at her, and stood. Jaesa kept staring at the floor._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___“Jaesa, you look at me.” she ordered, and Jaesa couldn’t refuse her. Lady Irtaya’s eyes had reverted to their natural grey, and they bored into her now. She gripped Jaesa’s shoulders firmly. “This is not your fault. There is plenty of blame to go around here, but none of it belongs to you. Do you understand?”_ _ _

____

___ _

____

___Jaesa nodded, unable to say anything. She still wasn’t convinced, and her master’s words had done nothing to abate the roiling guilt in her stomach. But she didn’t want to argue at that moment._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___Lady Irtaya let her go and sat down again. After several long moments, Jaesa rolled the other stool from the corner and sat next to her master. They sat in silence for a long time, keeping silent vigil over the injured man in the tank._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___Eventually, Lady Irtaya sighed and rubbed her forehead. “This was never supposed to happen.” she whispered, as if to herself._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___Jaesa looked at her, filled with a burning need to finally solve the mystery which had haunted her for the past four days. “Master, what happened on that ship? We saw some footage - Vette hacked the cameras when things weren’t adding up - and we saw him turn two war droids on you, and heard him say he was loyal to Baras.”_ _ _

____

___ _

____

___Her master looked at her carefully, her gaze probing but not accusatory. “Did you see anything else?”_ _ _

____

___ _

____

___Jaesa shook her head. “No, Vette was only able to pull about five seconds of video, and the whole thing was really spotty. It was enough to tell what was going on, but no details.”_ _ _

____

___ _

____

___Lady Irtaya smiled miserably. “Then I’m not surprised that you all thought he was a traitor.”_ _ _

____

___ _

____

___She sighed again. Jaesa watched her carefully. She closed her eyes tightly, and pressed her palm against the tank. When she opened her eyes again, Jaesa could see they were brimming with tears, though none fell._ _ _

____

___ _

____

___“It was all a ruse.”_ _ _

____

__

____


	2. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Six months previously, a decision was made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How it really, reasonably, should have gone.
> 
> Content warning for brief mention of potential torture, although nothing actually happens.

Focus character: Malavai  
Point in timeline: just after 2nd trip to Hoth

Quinn stared down at the datapad in his hand, reading and re-reading the words on the screen in an attempt to force his mind to register the full scope of their meaning. The missive was from Darth Baras, his distant master of ten years and slightly less distant master of two. The message was simple: kill Lady Irtaya, and find a way to turn her apprentice to his side. If that couldn’t be accomplished, kill the girl as well.

His initial impulse had been to type and send a swift, thorough refusal. Baras was a traitor to the Empire, while his Lady was the epitome of everything a Sith should be; the choice was simple. But his better judgement held him back; he knew exactly what Baras was capable of. They’d all witnessed Commander Lanklyn choked to an ignominious death for the actions of a smug Jedi across the holo. And Baras was known as the spymaster of the Empire for a reason; there was no telling what he was capable of. He was sure there were no bugs on the _Valkyrie, _but that was all he could be sure of.__

__

__And there was also the matter of his family. His mother and second sister still resided on Dromund Kaas, easily within Baras’ reach. Anora was serving on the Outer Rim, mostly out of danger, but Ellet’s unit was under his purview. A refusal from him meant certain death for them. And Baras wouldn’t spare him, either; if he was lucky he’d be killed, but he thought it far more likely that an interrogation table would be his fate._ _

__

__He dropped into the pilot’s chair, sighing and raking a hand through his hair. The obvious, logical choice was to side with Baras. He’d played the game for decades, and was a member of the Dark Council, while Lady Irtaya was an ingenue by comparison, unknown as a Sith and currently in disgrace. It seemed so simple. So black and white. And it wouldn’t be at all difficult to accomplish, either. For all her prowess on the battlefield, Lady Irtaya wasn’t infallible, and poison wasn’t an enemy she could defeat with her lightsabers. It would be swift and painless, the only sort of mercy he could offer. The rest of the crew would be easily subdued through similar means, and he’d deliver them to Baras in a neat little package. He’d live the rest of his life with an ever-increasing rank and a growing weight on his conscience. Any other officer would gladly take the deal, it was the smart thing to do. They’d cram their feelings in a titanium lockbox never to be opened, because in the end, what was love compared to the rank of Moff?_ _

__

__He’d always prided himself on his intelligence, on following his head rather than his heart. At Druckenwell, he’d made an impulsive decision that saved a thousand lives and nearly ruined him. He couldn’t regret that decision, but the following ten years trapped on a bombed out wasteland of a planet had brought him nearly to the brink. Joining Lady Irtaya as his way off had been a purely logical decision; she’d been a favored new apprentice, clearly powerful and meant to rise through the ranks of the Sith. Ingratiating himself to her at this point was the smart move, as officers detached to a Sith were afforded more freedom than those in a normal unit, sometimes to a ridiculous degree. And if his assessment of her capabilities was correct, his own advancement would quickly follow hers. The posting on her ship hadn’t presented any of the dangers normally associated with serving directly under a Sith, either. She’d been unfailingly polite from the beginning, and had treated himself and his fellow officers with respect. She’d listened to his suggestions, and hadn’t blamed him when the Jedi investigator had tapped the comms and listened to her conversation with the spy. She was reasonable, level-headed, and surprisingly merciful. Serving under her would be no hardship._ _

__

__He’d been correct, of course. He almost always was. She was a good leader, and he’d quickly come to hold her in high regard, considering her to be one of the best he’d ever served under. Her rather easygoing approach to the running of her ship hadn’t affected their efficiency, and she’d encouraged all of them to contribute however they could if it made their missions go more smoothly._ _

__

__What he hadn’t expected was the intense draw he felt toward her. He’d respected her from the start, of course, and had even come to like her on a personal level. He began to consider her a friend - a wholly unexpected one, to be sure, but not an unwelcome one - and it seemed she returned that regard. He’d thought nothing more of it for a long while, until their final night on Alderaan when he’d found her on the bridge and become a witness to her personal turmoil. She’d confided in him, and his rage at her treatment had been nearly impossible to control._ _

__

__They’d grown ever closer in the months following that night, and after Taris and their awkward half-confessions of feelings, they’d danced around one another for another few months. Two occurrences brought everything to a head: her blatant frustration at Baras’ callous disregard for the Imperial soldiers he’d used in his power play against Vengean, and his execution of Moff Broysc. She’d ranted to him for nearly half an hour, before ending with the words “Baras doesn’t see them as people, just as a means to his ends. They deserve better than to be pawns in his game.” They’d rung through his head the whole time he was travelling to capture Broysc and bring him back to the ship, until they’d been silenced along with the mad Moff with a single blaster shot. He’d hardly slept that night, his mind working too fast for it. He’d felt lighter than he had in twelve years, and the next day he had felt the conflict within him fall away. He’d expressed as much when Lady Irtaya had approached him that night for their customary nighttime conversation on the bridge. He’d kissed her for the first time that night, and he sometimes found it hard to believe it had been a year since then._ _

__

A clatter from elsewhere on the _Valkyrie _roused Quinn from his thoughts, and he glanced at the datapad again. He’d been sitting there pondering for an hour. His Lady would be coming to the bridge soon, unaware of the threat and armed only with one of her gentle smiles she reserved solely for him.__

____

___He stood to his feet, decision made. He strode swiftly to the tiny galley, where she was heating water for tea. She turned as he entered, but her greeting died on her lips at the serious expression on his face._ _ _

___ _

___“What is it?” she asked._ _ _

___ _

___He looked down at the datapad he held, closed his eyes, and swallowed hard. “I- I have something you need to see.”_ _ _

___ _

___He couldn’t form any more words than that, and held out the datapad with a slight tremor in his hands. She took it slowly, looking at him uncertainly, and read the message. The color drained from her face, and she sat down hard at her seat at the small table. He stood silently, awaiting her reaction. She read through the missive two, three times, before setting the pad down and looking at him._ _ _

___ _

___“When did you receive this?” her tone was unreadable._ _ _

___ _

___“Approximately an hour ago, my lady. I haven’t responded to it.”_ _ _

___ _

___She nodded, and gestured for him to sit. He didn’t. “I suppose he’s figured out by now that Draahg failed to accomplish his assignment. And what do you intend to do?”_ _ _

___ _

___He looked at her. “I don’t know.”_ _ _

__

___ _

She narrowed her eyes at him. _“Now, _of all times, is when you don’t have a plan?”__

___ _

______

He felt a flash of annoyance in his gut, and snapped, “Forgive me, my lady, for not having a brilliant plan to outmaneuver a _Dark Council member _with an hour’s notice!”__

____

___She looked taken aback, and he saw a flicker of hurt cross her face before she could hide it. Guilt instantly coiled in his gut, and he stammered out, “I-my lady, please forgive me, I didn’t-”_ _ _

___ _

___She held up her hand and shook her head, and he fell silent. “No, I shouldn’t have said that, it was unfair of me. I’m sorry.”_ _ _

___ _

___He shook his head, an indication of forgiveness. She paused, then asked quietly, “So what now? How do we get out of this one?”_ _ _

___ _

___He stared at the tabletop, unable to meet her gaze. “I don’t know.”_ _ _

___ _

___He finally sat with her at the tiny table, at his spot adjacent to hers, and resisted the urge to reach out and take one of her hands that rested on the table. He doubted she’d welcome his touch at the moment._ _ _

___ _

___They sat in silence for several minutes, both of them thinking desperately. It was his Lady who broke the silence when she sighed and leaned back in her chair, massaging her temples with eyes closed tight. “I’m not surprised he wants me dead, that was already obvious. But why Jaesa? Her special power aside, she’s not what he looks for in apprentices, and he knows that. And he’d never win her loyalty without forcing it, she’d be constantly plotting against him. So why does he want her? It doesn’t make sense.”_ _ _

___ _

___Quinn steepled his fingers in front of his mouth and thought for a moment before replying, “I believe he might only want her as some sort of status symbol; for her special power, of course, but also as living testament to his power.”_ _ _

___ _

___She eyed him. “What do you mean?”_ _ _

___ _

___“Her loyalty to you is well-known already, my lady. If he somehow managed to divert that loyalty to himself instead, it would be simply more proof that his strength is greater than yours.”_ _ _

___ _

___A sudden look that he couldn’t name came over her face, and she slammed her palm down onto the surface of the table. “That’s it! That’s how we’re getting through this!”_ _ _

___ _

___He looked at her, puzzled. “How, my lady?”_ _ _

___ _

___She snatched the datapad back up and shook it at him. “Baras doesn’t just want me dead, he wants Jaesa as further proof of his superiority. That’s how we’ll get out of it; it’s the only possible way.”_ _ _

__

___ _

He just stared at her, completely lost. “Forgive me, my lady, but I’m afraid I’m still not following you. You... _want _me to follow his orders?” he asked in disbelief.__

____

___She shook her head, standing and beginning to pace back and forth. It was not an ideal space for it, only taking her four paces to get from one end to the other, but it didn’t deter her. “We have to go through with it, fake it somehow. It’s the only chance we have of making it through this alive.”_ _ _

___ _

___Quinn nodded slowly, as he processed what she said. “If I can convince him that Jaesa will turn to his side if he can prove you are the weaker, he’ll agree. It will also most likely keep him from sending other assassins after you in the meantime.”_ _ _

___ _

___A thought occurred to him, and his mood turned pensive. His Lady immediately noticed._ _ _

___ _

___“What is it? Quinn?” she asked, sitting back down and watching him with concern in her luminous grey eyes._ _ _

___ _

___She said nothing else, just watched him with piercing eyes, and he rubbed the bridge of his nose. “My family. My mother and two of my sisters are within his reach, and if I fail, there’s no telling what he’ll do to them.”_ _ _

___ _

___His Lady softened at the mention of his family, and he knew he’d struck a chord within her. She reached out and laid one of her hands over his, and gave him a faint, determined smile. “We’ll find a way to protect them, I promise. I’ve got plenty of resources at my disposal to do so, and I swear to you no harm will come to them.”_ _ _

___ _

___A lump rose in his throat, and he turned his hand over to clasp hers. He raised it to his lips and pressed a kiss to the soft skin of her knuckles, and choked out a quiet thanks. She squeezed in response and gently pulled on his hand so he looked at her._ _ _

___ _

___“Thank you, Malavai, for bringing this to me.” she smiled tearfully, and he had to restrain himself from pulling her out of her chair to him so he could soothe her. They had previously agreed to act professionally around one another when they couldn’t be sure of their privacy, and while the other members of the crew had long since turned in for the night, if any of them got up for some reason they were easily visible. However, her use of his given name signaled that he could speak casually, at least._ _ _

__

___ _

“My l- _Finlee. _” He began quietly, and she smiled again at the sound of her given name. He was the only member of the crew she allowed to use it, although it had taken him a long time to actually say it after she’d given him permission. She hadn’t pressured him though, simply let him come to terms with it at his own pace and smiled at each endearment he’d used instead.__

____

___“I couldn’t live with myself, if I betrayed you that way. Not that I’d actually manage it, in any case.” he said with a self-deprecating huff of laughter. “I can’t lie to you, I still have no idea what I’m going to do, how I’m going to convince Baras I’m still on his side without him suspecting anything, and there’s no guarantee that he won’t just decide to send someone else after us. But…” he trailed off, tracing circles on her knuckles with his thumb, staring solemnly at the table._ _ _

___ _

___She said nothing, only watched him and waited patiently as he struggled to find the words to express himself. He’d always appreciated that about her, but now it didn’t make his task any easier, considering she was the subject of what he was trying to say._ _ _

___ _

___He looked up and met her eyes, and suddenly the words slipped out without any thought from him at all._ _ _

___ _

___“I’d rather die with a clean conscience knowing you loved me, than become a Moff with your blood on my hands.”_ _ _

___ _

___She stared at him in wide eyed silent shock, and his heart raced as he realized what he’d said. He’d known he loved her for months now, once he’d finally given a name to his truest inner feelings, and he’d suspected for almost as long that she felt the same way about him. But he’d never given voice to such thoughts, fearing he’d overwhelm her._ _ _

___ _

___And now that fear was suddenly given life due to a foolish slip of his tongue._ _ _

___ _

___The sudden tightening of her grip on his hand was what brought him out of his panicking thoughts. She looked at him steadily, with a new smile on her face, a genuine one this time._ _ _

___ _

___“I do love you.” she whispered, and he felt his heart skip a beat. “I love you, Malavai, and we will find a way through this, together.”_ _ _

__

___ _

He could say nothing through the lump in his throat, so he only nodded. He felt a tear begin to track down his cheek and quickly swept it away, blushing slightly in embarrassment. Finlee stood and stepped over to him, and lowered herself to straddle his lap. He would have protested, but she kissed him hard before he could, and all thoughts of the other members of the _Valkyrie’s _crew finding them in such an intimate position immediately died. He wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her close, running his other hand up her arm to tangle in her silken hair.__

____

___When they had to pause for breath, he looked her in the eyes and told her, “I love you. I always will, Finlee, I swear it.”_ _ _

___ _

___She smiled and kissed him again, before pulling back and breathlessly asking, “Bedroom?”_ _ _

___ _

___He nodded._ _ _

___***_ _ _

___Later, he pulled her close as they laid together in the large bed, naked and sated. She covered the hand that rested on her bare stomach with her own, interlacing their fingers and squeezing. He kissed her shoulder, and continued kissing up to her neck, which earned him a giggle. He smiled against her skin, and murmured a soft “I love you” into her ear, which she returned._ _ _

___ _

___They laid there for a long while in silence, just enjoying their shared warmth and the comfort of the bed._ _ _

___ _

___“Malavai? May I ask you something?” she whispered._ _ _

___ _

___He tightened his hold on her momentarily. “Of course. Always.”_ _ _

___ _

___“What made you decide to side with me over Baras? Between him and I, he is by far the more obvious choice of who comes out victorious.”_ _ _

___ _

___Malavai sighed, having anticipated Finlee would ask him that sooner or later. She had a driving need to always know the underlying motivations behind the actions of those around her, not that he could blame her. He kissed her head._ _ _

___ _

___“Logically, I suppose he is, at least at first glance. His influence is great, and while he might prefer to leave his dirty work to others, he still must have prodigious power of his own to have advanced so far in the ranks of the Sith. He has the resources of the whole Sphere of Military Offense at his disposal.” he paused._ _ _

___ _

___“Hardly an even playing field.” she commented evenly._ _ _

___ _

___Malavai nodded. “No. But there are limits to those considerations. He cannot use all the resources at his disposal to attack you, or he would be swiftly removed. His influence is, to my knowledge, made up almost entirely of people who owe him debts or whom he has some sort of incriminating information on. And neither of those positions exactly incline those in them towards real loyalty.”_ _ _

___ _

___Finlee chuckled against him. “I suppose you would know, wouldn’t you?”_ _ _

___ _

___He huffed out a laugh. “Indeed. And for all his personal strength in the Force, yours is surely greater. You were the one to kill Darth Vengean, not Baras, and by all indications Vengean was the more powerful of the two. If Baras were truly stronger than his master, surely he would have already killed him before he sent you, but he didn’t.”_ _ _

___ _

___He stopped there, unsure if he should say any more. Finlee sensed his disquiet, and brought their laced fingers up so she could press a soft kiss to his, before pressing their hands to her chest._ _ _

___ _

___“What is it, beloved?”_ _ _

__

___ _

Malavai sighed, and closed his eyes. “You...I know how hard it is, for you to be able to trust those around you, to allow them to become close to you. I know why that is, and I know _you._ You’ve come to trust me, more so than any of the others, and I can’t find words to express how honored I am by that.” he paused, swallowed, inhaled a ragged breath. “If I had chosen Baras, if I had betrayed you, betrayed your trust so heinously, you wouldn’t just have lost trust in me; you’d have lost the ability to trust in _anyone. _And I couldn’t bear the thought of being the cause of that.” he confessed, the words rushing out of him in a wild stream.__

____

___All was silent for several heartbeats which felt like hours, and Malavai feared he’d offended her._ _ _

___ _

___Finlee shook against his chest, and when he opened his eyes and raised his head to look at her, he realized she was trying not to weep. He quickly brought his hand up to wipe the few tears that escaped, apologizing again and again. She twisted around to look at him, shaking her head._ _ _

___ _

___“No one-no one has ever said anything like that to me before.” she told him, the words coming out in a choked whisper. “Nobody has ever cared about me the way you do.”_ _ _

___ _

___She smiled through her tears, and a now-familiar something twisted in his gut at the thought of all the pain she’d suffered. He swallowed it, focusing on Finlee, and pressed a long kiss to her forehead._ _ _

___ _

___“I love you,” he whispered against her skin. “I love you, and I will spend the rest of my life saying it to you if you’ll have me.”_ _ _

___ _

___Finlee smiled, and nodded tearfully. “I’d have nobody else.”_ _ _

___ _

___They settled back down into their bed, now completely wrung out from the evening’s occurrences. Finlee fell asleep quickly, but Malavai lay awake for a while longer, cradling her close as he considered what he’d done. If their idea - they had no plan, not yet - failed, he’d be lucky to die. But when he looked at the sleeping woman he held in his arms, he decided that all the risk was worth it. If he was damned, he would gladly burn to have this time with her._ _ _

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww. So sweet.
> 
> It won't last.


	3. Ruin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The best laid plans oft go awry, as our unfortunate heroes find.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning for violence, lots of it. Also blood, severe injury, etc.

Focus Character: Finlee  
Point in timeline: Transponder Ship

Finlee followed Malavai down the long hallways, finding the emptiness of the ship more unsettling than she’d anticipated. Their footsteps echoed through the space, dull clunks of their boots against the durasteel plating. She could feel her partner’s turbulent emotions, and wished she could reassure him somehow. She settled for smoothing a light touch of the Force against his mind, just enough that he’d feel it and know it was her. She didn’t dare do more than that, Baras surely had bugs and cameras everywhere.

When they entered the large open room, she knew the time had come. He lengthened his stride and pulled away from her, until he stood in the middle of the room with arms crossed behind his back.

“My lady, I regret that our paths must diverge. Out of respect, I wanted to be here to witness your fate.” he said in a low voice.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” she stated, looking around the room.

“Your senses have always been keen,” he murmured. He turned to face her, and her heart wrenched at the pain in his eyes. “It pains me, but this entire scenario is a ruse.” he inhaled a ragged breath. “There’s no martial law, and no special signal emitter. Baras is my true master, and he had me lure you here to have you killed.”

If there had been any truth to the words he spoke, they would have been like knives to her heart.

“After all we’ve been through together? I even helped you take out Moff Broysc!” she spat, putting as much emotion as she could muster into the words.

Malavai looked down. “You’ve helped me immensely. I act today with a heavy heart.” With that, two massive war droids, each nearly twice her height, emerged from a hidden room. He swallowed. “These two droids have been specifically programmed to combat you. I calculate a near zero percent chance of their failure.”

“Sounds grim. I know how thorough you are, Quinn. I’m sure this will be my greatest test.” she told him.

“And if I’m right, your last.” The droids raised their gun arms, and she pulled her twin sabers from her belt. “I’m sorry it’s come to this, my lady.”

The droids advanced toward her, firing rapid bursts of blaster bolts at her. She leapt into the air to avoid them, coming down on top of one of the droids. It was almost comical, watching it swivel its photoreceptors in search of her. But this was no time for laughter. She shoved one of her sabers down through the plating, before dragging it through the length of the droid as she rolled off and dropped to the floor. It began sparking and shaking, and it was clearly no longer a threat. Running around it, she deflected the bolts Malavai shot at her into the chassis of the second droid. The bolts from his sidearm weren’t powerful enough to do damage to the internal mechanisms of the droid after she’d deflected them, but they were more for show than anything else.

She dropped to the ground and rolled behind the now-collapsed wreckage of the first droid as the second one opened fire on her with its cannons. These blasts were too strong for her to redirect with her lightsabers, and they left large dents and scorches on the wall behind her. Summoning the Force, she wrapped tendrils around the mouths of the cannons and crushed them closed. She then yanked _down, _and the cannons bent with screeches of metal. When the droid tried to fire at her again, the pressure built up inside had no place to go, and the tibanna gas tanks exploded in a fiery show of force. After a long moment, she cautiously emerged from behind her impromptu shield.__

__

__The second droid was still smoking, nothing more than scrap metal now. She heard shifting from behind a bank of machines, and whirled to face them, pointing her mainhand saber toward the noise. When Malavai emerged from behind the tech, she sighed in relief and sheathed her sabers. He stepped around the bank carefully, eyeing the droid as if it might spring to life again and attack them both._ _

__

__Finlee strode towards him, and the noise drew his attention from the droid. A relieved smile bloomed on his face, which she answered with one of her own before launching herself into his waiting arms. They wrapped tightly around her, and she clung fast to his shoulders, letting out a breathy laugh of joy._ _

__

__“We did it!” she whispered, and his arms tightened around her for a brief second._ _

__

__He pulled back to look into her eyes, running his fingertips gently over her temple and down her jaw. He nodded, still smiling. “We did.” He brought his lips to hers, and kissed her hard. She returned it happily, bringing one hand up to bury her fingers in his hair. He tasted like adrenaline and smelled like smoke, and she reveled in it._ _

__

__When eventually he pulled back to breathe, he still didn’t let go of her, and she buried her head in the top of his shoulder, laughing again for the sheer joy of victory. She felt him smile against her skin, heard him whisper “I love you” into her ear, and held him even more tightly. She felt a thrill course through her veins at their success, their triumph over her former master._ _

__

__She should have known it wouldn’t last._ _

__

__Finlee knew something was wrong when every muscle in his body tensed against her, felt the gentle hands on her back turn to durasteel. She pulled back to look at his face, and her blood ran cold at the frozen expression on his face. She turned to see whatever it was he was looking at, and gasped._ _

__

__Draahg._ _

__

__Clearly the words he’d spouted about his immortality on Hoth had more truth to them than she’d thought; the man before her was decidedly alive. His eyes had been replaced with cybernetics, and she suspected other body parts had as well, and his scalp was hairless and bore the characteristic wax-like appearance of burn scars. He was twisted, damaged, ruined, but still alive. He leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest, a smug smirk on what remained of his lips._ _

__

__“Well, well, well,” he drawled, pushing himself off the doorframe and slinking towards them. “What do we have here?”_ _

__

__Malavai clutched the butt of his sidearm, but didn’t draw it. Finlee crossed her arms. “So, you didn’t burn to death after all.”__

__

Draahg laughed, but there was no joy in the sound. “I did tell you, dear lady: _I can’t be killed. _But I must give credit where it is due: you are the first to make me wish I could.”__

___ _

___Finlee said nothing, just glared at him. Draahg looked back and forth between her and Malavai, and smirked again. “Baras sent me as backup, in case the soldier’s droids failed. He wanted to be completely sure of his success. Won’t he get a kick out of it when I tell him his pet spy was in fact a double agent?”_ _ _

___ _

___Finlee felt a spike of anger from Malavai behind her. She shifted her weight to one leg and spat back, “You’ll never pass along that message, Draahg.”_ _ _

___ _

___He sneered at her. “Care to put that statement to the test?”_ _ _

___ _

___She leapt at him, sabers drawn. He parried her initial strike, but she’d knocked him off balance. She swung, and managed to score the armor on his stomach, but it remained intact. She ducked under the lightsaber he swung at her, and slashed at his legs. He jumped out of reach, and she leapt after him, aiming a swipe at his head. He blocked her strike, and they locked sabers for a moment, glaring at one another. A brief snippet of an idea flashed through her mind, and she smirked as she brought up one foot in a vicious kick to his groin. It didn’t debilitate him as she’d hoped, but he clearly was in pain from it. He groaned, and shoved her hard with the Force. She was able to keep herself from hitting the opposite wall, but landed on her back on the floor, hard. She felt every bit of air leave her lungs, and she gasped for breath._ _ _

___ _

___“No!” she heard Malavai shout, and then she heard the sound of blasterfire hitting a lightsaber blade. She rolled to her side, still struggling to regain her breath, and saw Malavai shooting at Draahg, a savage expression on his face. Draagh seemed to be toying with him, clearly thinking the officer no threat to him, and smug satisfaction bloomed in her. That was a mistake too many made; they were so focused on the more obvious threat she presented that they ignored Malavai completely, allowing him free reign to analyze every weakness they had. It had become a familiar routine to them.___

 __

___ _

Draahg was certainly going to learn that particular lesson in a moment, as Malavai kept the other Sith’s attention on himself, giving her the time she needed to recover. He turned Draahg slowly, until the larger man’s back was squarely to her. Recognizing she wouldn’t get this opportunity again, she pushed herself up and ran at him, plowing into his back and aiming a thrust between his shoulder blades. The force of her hit drove him to the floor, and she knelt on his back. His armor _gave _after an agonizing half a second, and her lightsaber plunged into his chest cavity, earning an excruciating wail from the man.__

___ _

___Heaving, he rolled to his side and threw her off him, and grabbed her headscarf. He’d also managed to get a hold of the bun she wore her hair in underneath, and she gritted her teeth against the pain. Malavai shot at him again, and Draahg flipped himself up to his feet, taking her headscarf with him. Thankfully, her hair slipped free of his grasp, and she scrambled back to put some distance between them. Looking back and forth between her and Malavai, she could practically see the gears in Draahg’s head turning. Her own thoughts were racing as well; she couldn’t throw one of her sabers like she normally might, for fear of hitting Malavai or Draahg pulling it from the air, nor could he shoot without risk of hitting her. Ironically, Draahg was currently in the safest possible spot, standing in between two opponents._ _ _

___ _

___Catching Malavai’s eyes for a fraction of a second, she jerked her head to the side and hoped he understood. She didn’t have time to confirm whether he did or not before taking two swift steps to the left and running at Draahg, using the Force to propel herself to unnatural speed. She hit him like a battering ram, driving him into the still smoldering droid scrap. She positioned herself between Draahg and Malavai, and braced herself for his next attack._ _ _

___ _

___“How is he not dead after taking a lightsaber to the chest?” she hissed at Malavai._ _ _

___ _

___“His heart must have been replaced with some sort of pump, which doesn’t necessarily have to be placed where the heart is supposed to go.” he answered. “And his cybernetics look incredibly sophisticated; they’re probably meant to keep working in extreme situations.”_ _ _

___ _

___She groaned. “Perfect. Just perfect.”___

 __

___ _

Draahg leapt out of the pile of twisted metal, cuts on his head and neck oozing blood. She leapt at him again, but he was prepared for her, sidestepping her attack and wrapping a tendril of the Force around her middle. Before she could do anything, he launched her into a row of data banks along the wall. They gave way with a sickening _crunch _beneath her, and she cried out at the sudden sharp pain in her right wrist. A fraction of a second later, her head connected with something hard, and for a brief moment, everything went black. When she opened her eyes, everything was blurry, and she had to squint against the brightness of the light. She heard Malavai cry out in pain, and scrambled to her feet. Draahg had also thrown him against the wall, and even from the other side of the room and through the sudden blurriness of her vision, she could see the blood on his uniform.__

___ _

___Finlee saw red. Grabbing her offhand saber, she activated it and threw it at Draahg’s head with a loud scream, before grabbing her mainhand saber and following the path of her throw. Her cry alerted Draahg, who ducked under the initial throw and met her strike with a parry. She realized her mistake quickly; without the use of her right wrist and her second lightsaber, and her vision still not righted, she was no match for his sheer physical strength, and had to rapidly give ground to avoid being killed._ _ _

___ _

___She was becoming desperate, and Draahg laughed when he sensed it. He pushed harder, and Finlee found herself backed against the wall, with no way of escape. He was too close for her to try to jump to freedom, and she was too exhausted to push him away with the Force. Every muscle in her body screamed at her, and her vision rapidly dipped in and out of focus. She could feel sweat dripping from her head, or was that blood? She couldn’t tell, and looking into Draahg’s inhuman, unfeeling cybernetic photoreceptors, she supposed it didn’t really matter. She was going to die either way. She just wished it hadn’t been like this._ _ _

___ _

___She looked past Draahg’s form, hoping for a last glimpse of her beloved. She saw him standing mere meters away from where she was cornered...with her activated offhand saber in his hand. Seeing he had her attention, he made to throw it, and her eyes widened, a smile blooming on her face. She gave a single nod, and he slung it in her direction. Draahg had no time to react, as she used what little strength she had left to guide the blade through his neck, severing his head from his body._ _ _

___ _

___The body collapsed, hitting the floor with a solid thump. Finlee sagged against the wall and closed her eyes, exhausted. When she opened her eyes a moment later, she stifled a shriek. Draahg’s severed head had rolled to land at her feet, faceup. The cybernetic eyes still glowed red at her, and without thinking she pushed both body and head away from her with the Force, and they came to rest next to one of the wrecked war droids._ _ _

___ _

___Eyes wide, she breathed hard, staring at the headless body. She turned toward the sound of approaching footsteps, and saw Malavai quickly coming toward her. She shoved herself off the wall, stumbling towards him. Fear spiked in his signature, and he ran the remaining distance between them._ _ _

___ _

___“Finlee? Finlee, look at me, look into my eyes,” she heard him saying. His voice sounded off, what was wrong with it? She looked up at him, and squinted to try and rid herself of her double vision. He held onto her, one hand on the side of her head tilting her face to his._ _ _

___ _

___For a brief second, her vision cleared, and she saw him looking at her, his mouth moving rapidly, but she couldn’t hear him over the ringing in her ears growing steadily louder. His eyes were wide and frantic, deep pools of blue that she’d often lost herself in. She loved his eyes; had she ever told him that? She couldn’t remember. She should._ _ _

___ _

___She brought her hand up to brush his temple, and smiled dreamily at him. “Love...your eyes...so blue...so beautiful,” she managed to tell him, and then everything went black._ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear.


	4. Regret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth is revealed, and we must now learn to deal with it.

Focus character: Jaesa  
Point in timeline: three hours after chapter 1

Jaesa stared at her hands, completely numb after her master’s revelations. Lady Irtaya just watched Quinn floating in the kolto tank with eyes filled with pain. Neither woman said anything for a long time.

She had been right. Her suspicions were correct, but she hadn’t voiced them because she’d been too scared, and now Quinn might die because of it. And for nothing.

She felt sick.

“Jaesa,” her master said in a low voice, tone gentle now. She didn’t look up, couldn’t bear to meet those grey eyes.

Lady Irtaya laid a hand on her shoulder. “Jaesa, please listen to me. I don’t blame you for Quinn’s condition. Draahg was the one who injured him, and it was Pierce and partially Vette who denied him the care that he needed.”

Jaesa shook her head, pressing her hand to her mouth and curling into herself. She tried to hold back her tears, but wasn’t entirely successful. She gasped out, “But I didn’t do anything to stop them! I didn’t-I knew something wasn’t right, that we didn’t have the whole story, but I didn’t _say _anything, didn’t speak up, and I should have.”__

__

Lady Irtaya squeezed her shoulder, and didn’t say anything for a long moment. When she did, she asked, “So why _didn’t _you say anything? It isn’t like you to keep silent when an injustice is being done.”__

___ _

___Jaesa closed her eyes tightly. “I was scared. When they were first deciding what to do with Quinn, Pierce wanted to kill him. I said that we shouldn’t, we should wait for you, and I pointed out that he still outranks us and in his state he wasn’t any threat.” she inhaled a ragged breath before continuing on. “Pierce didn’t like that. He…” she trailed off._ _ _

___ _

___The hand on her shoulder tightened its grip. “What did he do?” Lady Irtaya asked, an edge to her voice._ _ _

___ _

___Jaesa didn’t want to say it out loud, but she knew that she couldn’t keep this a secret from her master. “He practically accused me of being a traitor too, and threatened to throw me out the airlock with Quinn if I gave him a single reason.”___

__

___ _

“The _bastard. _” Lady Irtaya snarled. She inhaled a ragged breath. “Jaesa, look at me, please.”__

___ _

Jaesa did, slowly, but nearly looked away again when she met her master’s eyes. “You did _nothing wrong. _Under the circumstances, I’d say you did all you could, and it’s far more than anyone else did.”__

___ _

___Jaesa gulped. “But I didn’t-master, he’s still-”_ _ _

___ _

___Lady Irtaya cut her off. “What were you able to do for him?”_ _ _

___ _

___Jaesa stopped and reeled in her racing thoughts. “I, uh- I brought him food and water each night, and I changed his bandages once. I was too afraid to do anything else, and I didn’t realize he’d gotten as bad as he did. I didn’t want to turn on the light and risk alerting Pierce or Vette.”_ _ _

___ _

___Lady Irtaya nodded. “Jaesa, you saved his life.”___

__

___ _

She shook her head, losing the battle to keep her tears contained. “But I should have done _more! _I should have stood up to them!” she sobbed. “I can use the Force, I could have defended myself against them, I could have-could have-”__

___ _

___She completely dissolved into tears then, shame, guilt and fear churning in her gut. Her master wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. She melted into the embrace, too distressed to have any notion of embarrassment at her loss of control. She felt her master’s hand stroke her hair, heard her low voice murmuring indistinct words, and sobbed harder. It seemed to go on forever, as all the fear and doubt and guilt of the past four days came pouring out of her all at once. Eventually, she ran out of energy, and became too tired to cry._ _ _

___ _

___When she regained some sense of control, she realized she was still leaning into Lady Irtaya’s body, and her master was still stroking her hair and holding her. She flushed with mortification, and made to pull away, but Lady Irtaya didn’t release her hold. What little hesitancy Jaesa felt at the thought of their position collapsed, and she buried her face in her master’s shoulder. Her breaths came ragged, and her emotions of guilt and shame still swirled inside her, but the burden wasn’t so heavy now._ _ _

___ _

___“Jaesa, listen to me very carefully. You did exactly what you should have done. You had no way of knowing the truth, and if you had tried to speak out more Pierce would have most certainly killed you.” her master whispered._ _ _

___ _

___Jaesa pulled back slightly. “But the Force…”_ _ _

___ _

___“Would not have saved you. Black Ops men are dangerous and unpredictable, there’s no telling what he would have done. I know you think you should have made some dramatic stand against them, perhaps even locked them in the cargo bay like they did Quinn, but it would have gotten you killed. You did the best thing possible given the situation.” Lady Irtaya tightened her grip on Jaesa’s shoulders for a moment. “Sometimes the best course of action is to do what you can while keeping your head down. Heroic actions are all well and good, but you can’t help anyone if you’re dead.”_ _ _

___ _

___Jaesa eventually nodded, although it still didn’t entirely lift her burden of guilt. Lady Irtaya guided her to sit up and looked into her eyes with a small smile. “I know you don’t believe me right now, but that’s fine. I’m proud of you, Jaesa.” she looked as if she wanted to say more, but thought better of it. “Go get some rest. I’m sure you need it.”_ _ _

___ _

___Jaesa nodded, and obeyed. It wasn’t until she stood and exited the medbay that she realized how absolutely exhausted she was. It was late in the afternoon, not quite evening, but she felt as if she could sleep for days. She turned toward the women’s bunks, when a thought occurred to her. “Master? What should I tell Vette?”_ _ _

___ _

___She heard Lady Irtaya sigh, and there was silence for a moment before her answer came. “If she asks, you may tell her the truth. How much of the story you relate is up to you.”_ _ _

___ _

___Jaesa nodded, and turned to go, but was interrupted by one last statement from her master. “And Jaesa? Stay away from the cargo bay, I don’t want you anywhere near Pierce.”_ _ _

___ _

___“Yes, master.” she whispered._ _ _

___ _

___When no further words came, she walked silently down the hallway and into the women’s bunkroom. Vette was curled up in her bunk, and only glanced up at Jaesa’s entrance. She was uncharacteristically silent. Jaesa said nothing to her, just walked into the attached refresher to splash cold water on her face. She became aware of Vette watching her from the doorway, but didn’t look at the other woman. She gripped the countertop, arms shaking, eyes squeezed shut._ _ _

___ _

___Emotions churned in her gut, guilt most prominent among them. But anger battled for dominance, tinged with relief. Vette still stood in the doorway, but Jaesa couldn’t look at her. Her anger was growing stronger by the second, and she didn’t want to do something else she’d regret. She had enough to last her a lifetime already._ _ _

___ _

___Vette remained silent for a while, and Jaesa struggled to contain her emotions. When she no longer felt as if she would combust, she opened her eyes and stared at her reflection. Her normally bronze complexion had taken on a yellowed pallor, and enormous bags hung under her eyes. Her face was drawn with strain, the worry lines making her appear far older than her actual twenty-four years. She looked awful. Felt worse._ _ _

___ _

___She turned away from her reflection, not wanting to look at it anymore, and brushed past Vette into the bunkroom. She sat on her bed and buried her face in her hands. She still felt Vette’s stare, but couldn’t bring herself to start the conversation. She knew it was necessary, but her exhaustion was only getting worse._ _ _

___ _

___Jaesa heard Vette sit on the mattress of her bunk across from her own, and sighed. “What?”___

__

___ _

“What _happened? _What is going on, Jaesa? I’ve never seen the boss that angry before, not even after the first time we went to Quesh. So what’s-” her babbling cut off when Jaesa lifted her head to look at her.__

___ _

___Jaesa looked down again, not knowing what to say. How could she even begin to unpack the truth of what had happened? She was still processing it herself. But Vette deserved to know…_ _ _

___ _

___A lump rose in her throat. She furiously swallowed against it, refusing to collapse into tears again. She’d had enough of those over the past few days. Once it was gone, she breathed deep and stared at Vette, giving the other woman her best penetrating stare. It was probably nowhere near the level her master could conjure, but judging from Vette’s expression it was still plenty effective._ _ _

___ _

___“I was right.” Jaesa stated. She stopped, waiting for Vette’s reaction._ _ _

___ _

___Vette scrunched up her face in confusion. “About what?”_ _ _

___ _

___“Quinn. He wasn’t a traitor, I was right.”_ _ _

___ _

___Vette paled. “But we saw-”_ _ _

___ _

___“A sham.” Jaesa cut her off. “It was an act he and Lady Irtaya came up with to fool Baras. He wanted Quinn to kill my master. But Captain Quinn chose her instead. He’s no traitor, he never was.”_ _ _

___ _

As Jaesa delivered the information in a flat tone conveying nothing, she watched her friend’s countenance turn rapidly from confusion to horror to guilt. A flicker of satisfaction came from her gut at the sight. She shoved it down. _Focus. ___

___ _

___Now Vette was the one to bury her face in her hands, her lekku quivering in distress. She shook her head in disbelief, muttering “no, no, no” over and over again. Jaesa just watched in silence._ _ _

___ _

___“I was right, and you didn’t believe me.” she spat._ _ _

___ _

___Vette looked up at her, tears in her violet eyes. “What was I supposed to believe? Your hunch, or what I saw with my own eyes?”_ _ _

___ _

___Jaesa raised an eyebrow. “Five seconds of spotty video against my special power?” Vette curled in on herself a bit. “And you didn’t even question what you saw. You know how devoted he is to Lady Irtaya, you know how loyal he is, and yet you still believed he would betray her?” she snapped. There was no restraining her emotions now, the dam had broken and the flood was coming._ _ _

___ _

___“I-” Vette stopped, thinking hard. Jaesa crossed her arms and waited. “I don’t know. I didn’t think-”_ _ _

___ _

___“No, you didn’t.” Jaesa cut her off. “You didn’t think, you didn’t believe me, and now he might die for it.”_ _ _

___ _

___Vette glared at her through tearful eyes. “This isn’t my fault! If you were so sure that he was innocent, why didn’t you say anything?”___

__

___ _

Jaesa narrowed her eyes. “I _tried. _And you didn’t listen.”__

___ _

___Vette looked down. Jaesa continued on, “And I couldn’t do anything about it, not when you were so convinced he was a traitor, and Pierce threatened to kill me if I made one wrong move.”_ _ _

___ _

___Vette looked up sharply. “He did what?” Jaesa gave her a pointed look. “Why didn’t you tell me?”_ _ _

___ _

___“Would it have changed anything? You’d have gone straight to confront him about it, and then I would have been thrown out the airlock, and Quinn with me.” Jaesa snapped.___

__

___ _

Vette looked sick. “I didn’t know...gods, Jaesa, I’m _so sorry. _”__

___ _

___Jaesa felt as if she might cry. “All my life, people have used me for their own ends, ignored my words unless they benefited them, disregarded me. But I have never felt less like a person than these past four days.” she ground out. “I thought that you, of all people, would understand how that feels. But clearly I was wrong.”_ _ _

___ _

___Vette did cry then. Jaesa just watched her, numb. She had said all she felt she had to, and the flood of emotion had passed. She was utterly spent, and just wanted to collapse into her bed and sleep forever._ _ _

___ _

___For a long time, the only sound in the room was Vette’s sobs. Jaesa stared into nothingness, unseeing, unfeeling. Eventually she lied down, facing the wall. But even as exhausted as she was, sleep didn’t come. She was lost in a storm of her own mind, unaware of the world around her. She didn’t even realize Vette had stopped crying until the other woman spoke._ _ _

___ _

___“What-what’s going to happen now?” She whispered._ _ _

___ _

___Jaesa rolled onto her back. “I don’t know,” she sighed. “We still have to go to Corellia, but with what happened, she might decide to delay that until Quinn’s healed, if he makes it. And that gives Baras more time to cement his claim and send someone after us, putting us even more at risk. But if we go to Corellia now despite Quinn’s condition, we still have to worry about protecting him as well as the person we’re being sent to protect. And then there’s the matter of what to do with Pierce…” she trailed off._ _ _

___ _

___Silence for a moment. “And...what do you think she’ll do with me?” Vette asked in a tiny voice._ _ _

___ _

___Jaesa thought hard, but couldn’t find an answer. Her master was angrier than anyone else she’d ever seen, and while she knew the woman was fond of Vette, was that friendship enough to stay her hand? Especially compared to the soul-deep bond she’d sensed between Lady Irtaya and Captain Quinn. But she didn’t like to think about what might happen if it wasn’t enough._ _ _

___ _

___“I don’t know. She put most of the blame on Pierce, but she’s furious enough to do anything.” Jaesa said eventually._ _ _

___ _

___Vette squeaked, and Jaesa turned her head to see the other woman staring stricken into space. Her stomach lurched, and despite her lingering traces of anger, she couldn’t leave Vette to suffer alone. She rolled out of her bunk and crossed the room to sit next to Vette, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and drawing her close in an attempt at comfort._ _ _

___***_ _ _

___Jaesa jerked awake suddenly. She hadn’t even realized she was falling asleep, but now she found herself in Vette’s bunk with Vette wrapped around her, head resting on her shoulder. She had her arms around the twi’lek’s waist, and could feel her exhales of breath on the skin of her neck. Her stomach churned; how long, how often had she dreamed of waking up like this? But in all her fantasies, this sort of awakening had always been preceded by soft caresses and long, slow kisses leading into more._ _ _

___ _

___She carefully extricated herself from Vette’s grip, rising to her feet. She had slept in her clothes, and wrinkled her nose at their rumpled condition. She quickly stripped and changed into new, clean clothes, before quietly slipping out of the bunkroom towards the medbay. She paused just outside the door, listening for any sign that her master was moving about, but heard nothing. She entered the room and found her master in the same spot she’d been in when Jaesa had left the room hours ago, staring at Quinn floating in the kolto tank with anguish in her eyes._ _ _

___ _

___“Master?” Jaesa whispered, afraid to speak any louder than that. “Have you been here all night?”_ _ _

___ _

___Lady Irtaya glanced toward her, and nodded with a sigh. “I needed to be here.”_ _ _

___ _

___Jaesa drew closer in order to check Quinn’s condition. She heaved a sigh of relief, seeing that his blood pressure had risen to a more normal level, and his heart was no longer racing. His fever had gone down, although it was still above a normal body temperature. He hadn’t regained consciousness, but as far as Jaesa could tell, he was past the worst of the danger. He would live._ _ _

___ _

___Turning to his form, she noted that the gash on his leg had partially closed, and the streaks of maroon up and down his thigh were only half the length they had been. There was no way to check the condition of his vocal chords, but she believed that the kolto circulating through his body would be able to heal it. They wouldn’t know for sure until Quinn awoke, though._ _ _

___ _

___“How is he?” her master asked, her voice hoarse and scratchy._ _ _

___ _

___Jaesa turned to face her, and was concerned at the large dark circles under Lady Irtaya’s eyes. “Better. His vitals have improved, but he’s not out of the woods yet. We won’t know if there’s any lasting brain damage until he wakes up.” Lady Irtaya nodded._ _ _

___ _

___Jaesa sat in the chair still pulled up next to the tank. She eyed her master. Her hair was still clumped with kolto, although it was now tied into a crude tail with a strip of bandaging. Her skin was pallid and sickly, with a new scar near her hairline. When she rubbed her eyes, Jaesa saw that she still had the splint on her right wrist, also caked in kolto. The looseness of the shirtsleeve must have covered it before, as she hadn’t noticed it was still there. It fell back halfway down her master’s forearm when she lifted it, and the rest of the shirt hung on Lady Irtaya’s body with the same bagginess. With a jolt, Jaesa realized that Vette had mistakenly grabbed a shirt that belonged to Quinn._ _ _

___ _

___The thought curdled in her stomach, and she pushed it away. To distract herself, she asked, “Master, what happens now?”_ _ _

___ _

___Lady Irtaya didn’t answer for a long while. Finally, she spoke. “I don’t know.” she dragged her hand roughly over her scalp. “There’s no way we’ll succeed in our objectives on Corellia down our strategist and our demolitions expert. We can’t afford to delay more than another day or so for Quinn to recover, and that puts him and us at risk.”_ _ _

___ _

___Jaesa nodded, looking down. “And what about Pierce?”_ _ _

___ _

___Lady Irtaya scowled at the mention of the man. “I haven’t decided. I was going to get rid of him after this was all over anyway, but now…” she trailed off._ _ _

___ _

___Jaesa furrowed her brow. “You were? Why?”_ _ _

___ _

___“Like I said before, Black Ops soldiers are dangerous. They’re insubordinate and untrustworthy at best, and hard to control. They might be able to accomplish things other soldiers cannot, but they often cause so much collateral damage that it isn’t worth it. Pierce is an exemplary example of his kind.” she said. “That sort of wanton destruction isn’t the sort of example I want to set.”_ _ _

___ _

___Jaesa considered this for a moment before nodding again. “So what will you do with him? A court-martial?”_ _ _

___ _

___Lady Irtaya shrugged one shoulder, and grimaced slightly. “Perhaps. The problem is what to do with him in the immediate future. I won’t bring him to Corellia with us, and there’s no place to keep him aboard the ship safely.”_ _ _

___ _

___She rubbed her shoulder absently as she spoke, occasionally wincing. Jaesa zoned in on this. “Master, I should check your injuries.”_ _ _

___ _

___After a moment, her master nodded slowly. She unbuttoned the shirt, fumbling slightly with the snaps. She pulled her right wrist free of the sleeve and extended it out towards Jaesa, lowering the shirt so her shoulder was exposed as well. She clutched the lapels together just above her breasts with her free hand._ _ _

___ _

___Jaesa cradled her master’s hand carefully, summoning a scanner with the Force. She pointed it towards the splinted wrist, and was relieved when it gave the all-clear. Pointing it next towards her shoulder, it told her that all damage had been repaired. She sighed in relief._ _ _

___ _

___“You’ve healed well, master, but if you’re still sore I think I know what to give you for the pain.” she offered._ _ _

___ _

___Lady Irtaya gave her a fond, proud smile, and Jaesa felt warmth curling in her belly. “Thank you, Jaesa, but I know what to take. You’ve learned well.”_ _ _

___ _

___Jaesa flushed. Her brief satisfaction was quickly turned to worry, though, when Lady Irtaya stood and immediately clutched the back of her seat. She recovered after a moment, but Jaesa didn’t take her eyes off her._ _ _

___ _

___“Master, maybe you should go get some rest. I’ll stay here with Quinn.”_ _ _

___ _

___Lady Irtaya looked hesitantly at Quinn, then at the door. “I don’t…”_ _ _

___ _

___“I’ll come alert you the moment anything happens.” Jaesa swore._ _ _

___ _

___Lady Irtaya nodded reluctantly. She laid her palm against the tank and stared tearfully at Quinn for a long moment, before shutting her eyes and turning away. Jaesa watched her move towards the exit, turning back when she stood in the doorway. She had a faraway look on her face, and Jaesa didn’t think she was really aware of her surroundings at that moment._ _ _

___ _

___“I’m going to marry him.” she whispered. And then she left._ _ _

___ _

___Jaesa was thunderstruck. She didn’t think that admission had really been meant for her to hear, but she had been the only person capable of hearing it. It didn’t matter._ _ _

___ _

___After checking Quinn’s vitals another time - his fever had gone down half a degree, thank goodness - she settled onto her knees, closed her eyes, and opened herself to the Force. She turned her Sight first onto Lady Irtaya. She was laced through with pain and anguish, crimson anger providing a dark counterpoint. Vette was still asleep, but Jaesa could feel the remnants of her guilt and regret lingering._ _ _

___ _

___Pierce was another matter. He burned with festering hatred, resentment, jealousy. Jealousy? At the center of it all, a tight knot of scorching lust and bitter ambition, aimed at her master. Frustration. Arrogance. Pride.___

__

___ _

She had to turn her gaze away from him. Jaesa had known for a long time that Pierce and Quinn didn’t get along, and that Pierce objected to taking orders from the Captain. She hadn’t thought much of it, and when she’d finally asked Quinn his response was to press his lips together and sigh. He’d told her that some non-commissioned officers resented taking commands from commissioned ones, and that they felt their experience on the battlefield outweighed education from officer training or a military academy. It had satisfied her, and she’d given the matter no further thought, but this...this went much deeper than simple friction. Pierce _hated _Quinn.__

___ _

___And he wanted her master. Whether to satisfy his lust or his ambition or both, it didn’t seem to matter. Had he meant to propel himself through the ranks by giving her favors? Apparently so. Jaesa guessed that was the cause of his jealousy. Though the pair were discreet about it, anyone observant could see that they deeply cared for one another, and that Lady Irtaya was closest to Captain Quinn out of the whole crew. So when it became apparent that nothing Pierce said or did would divert her most intimate attention from Quinn to himself, he must have fixated his ire on the Captain._ _ _

___ _

___Jaesa felt sick. It wasn’t Quinn she had misjudged after all; it was the Lieutenant. None of his actions had really been about protecting Lady Irtaya at all. They’d been about punishing Quinn, removing him as an obstacle to Pierce’s ambitions. He’d seen an opportunity, and had taken advantage of it. Vette didn’t hate Quinn, not like Pierce did, but they’d never seen eye to eye, and her tendency to take things at face value had worked in Pierce’s favor. She had seen what appeared to be a betrayal, and believed it.___

__

___ _

She still felt conflicted when she thought of Vette’s actions. Jaesa knew that despite her friend’s seemingly eternal optimism bordering on naivete, the twi’lek had seen the worst of what people were willing to do to one another. It wouldn’t have been a surprise to her to consider Quinn betraying Lady Irtaya; she’d seen it all before. Not only was it not inconceivable, it was commonplace. She’d probably thought Jaesa was the naive one, for thinking that it couldn’t happen. Jaesa understood _why _Vette had acted as she did; she had only been trying to protect the Sith she called a friend.__

___ _

___A loud beeping startled her out of her meditative state. She looked up, and saw that Quinn was beginning to stir in the kolto tank. She stood quickly and rushed to the side, checking the display of his vital signs._ _ _

___ _

___Heart rate: slightly faster than normal, but steady. Blood pressure: low, but within the healthy range. Fever: gone. The red streaks had completely disappeared from his leg, and the wound had closed. She smiled for the first time since this whole ordeal had begun._ _ _

___ _

___When she turned her gaze on his face, she saw that his eyes were open, and he was watching her. She pressed the button to begin draining the tank, and turned to gather a towel and more spare clothes for him. When the tank was fully drained, Quinn slumped against the back of the tank, favoring his newly healed leg. He looked exhausted, but took the towel she offered with a faint smile and began to dry himself as best he could. He looked around the medbay and gave her a questioning look.___

__

___ _

___“She’s all right. Don’t worry.” Jaesa whispered._ _ _

___ _

A look of pure relief spread over his face at her words, and her heart wrenched. For a fleeting second, she wondered what it would be like to have someone care about _her _like that.__

___ _

___“Can you walk? And what about speaking?” she asked quickly._ _ _

___ _

___Quinn looked down at his leg, and tested it carefully to see if it would support his weight. After a long moment, he straightened with a wince. He made to step forward, and Jaesa braced herself to catch him if he fell. Thankfully, despite the lingering shakiness of his legs, they held firm, and he gingerly stepped down out of the tank, gripping the back of the chair tightly. Slowly, unsteadily, he made his way to the nearest bed, and sank onto it with a sigh._ _ _

___ _

___Jaesa grabbed one of the bottles of water and some painkillers, pressing both into his hands. He took the pills, but seemed more concerned with the water, draining half the bottle in a manner of seconds._ _ _

___ _

___“Quinn? How do you feel? Can you talk?” Jaesa asked again._ _ _

___ _

___Quinn coughed once, then cleared his throat. His voice was low and grating, but he rasped out, “I’ve felt better.”_ _ _

___ _

___Jaesa couldn’t help herself; she giggled madly, his uncharacteristic jesting in the face of the instability of the past few days overwhelming her. She collected herself quickly, however, and grew serious again, though the solemnity of the space was lifted._ _ _

___ _

___“I’ll go get my master, do you need me to help you get dressed first?”_ _ _

___ _

___He shook his head. “I don’t believe so. Thank you,” his sentence was cut off with a cough._ _ _

___ _

___He reached for the spare clothes she had laid out, and Jaesa turned away to give him some semblance of privacy. Glancing at the chrono on the wall, she saw that several hours had passed since Lady Irtaya had retired. Jaesa hoped she was sleeping, but doubted it._ _ _

___ _

___A rustle of fabric behind her drew her attention, and she peeked over her shoulder. Quinn was leaning against the bed, slowly buttoning the dark cotton shirt. The dark trousers were loose on him, the hems pooling slightly at his ankles._ _ _

___ _

___Seeing that he was fine for the moment, Jaesa exited the medbay and dashed across the main room toward her master’s cabin. The door was closed but unlocked, and Jaesa rapped sharply. She waited only for a second before opening it and entering. Normally she would never dare enter Lady Irtaya’s space without express permission, but given the circumstances she assumed it would be forgiven._ _ _

___ _

___Lady Irtaya sat on the edge of her bed facing the wall opposite Jaesa, and turned around sharply at her entrance. When she saw it was Jaesa, her expression became imploring._ _ _

___ _

___“He’s awake. He just came out of the tank.” Jaesa gasped out breathlessly._ _ _

___ _

___A range of emotions flew across her master’s face, worry, relief, elation. She shot to her feet and bolted for the door, and Jaesa scrambled to get out of her way for fear of being trampled. She followed a few feet behind her master as she raced to the medbay.___

__

___ _

Lady Irtaya caught herself on the doorway to the medbay, the impact creating a loud _thump _against the metal. Captain Quinn looked up sharply from the last of his shirt buttons. When he saw Lady Irtaya standing in the doorway, a wide, beatific smile spread over his face.__

___ _

“ _Finlee. _” he rasped, straightening.__

___ _

She let out a sound that was half sob, half laugh, before returning his smile with one of her own. “ _Malavai. _”__

___ _

___In three steps she was in his arms, pressing a long, deep kiss to his lips. They only broke apart when her form began to shake from gasps, and she pressed her face against Quinn’s shoulder. He tenderly cradled the back of her head, holding her close. Jaesa saw tears leaking from Quinn’s eyes down his cheeks, as he whispered inaudible words into her master’s ear. Neither of them seemed to have any awareness of her presence._ _ _

___ _

___She turned away, feeling like an intruder on the intimate scene. She returned to her bunkroom, and found Vette sitting on her bunk staring into nothing. She turned to face Jaesa as she entered, and without saying a word, Jaesa crossed the room, grabbed Vette’s hands, pulled her to her feet, and wrapped her in a hug. Vette stiffened for a moment before slumping into Jaesa’s arms and returning the embrace._ _ _

___ _

___“Jaesa, what-?” Vette whispered._ _ _

___ _

___“Shh. It’s okay.” Jaesa whispered back. “I-I understand, now. Why you believed him, why you did what you did. And...I forgive you.”_ _ _

___ _

___Vette hitched a sob, and clutched Jaesa tighter. “I’m sorry-”_ _ _

___ _

___Jaesa squeezed her. “I know. It’s okay._ _ _

___ _

___“We’re all going to be okay.”_ _ _


	5. Epilogue-Reparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How an eventual happy ending was achieved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I actually got halfway through an entirely different epilogue, but then I got the idea to do this as a journal entry and couldn't resist.
> 
> Yes, I do hate Pierce. I have had the unfortunate experience of having to work with men like him and it's absolutely awful. 
> 
> Warning: ending author's note contains long-winding rant about how stupid Quinncident is.

_Excerpt taken from the private journal of the Lady Finlee Quinn, dated shortly before her death. The incident detailed within took place many years before the entry was written, shortly before she was given the title Darth Eira and formally recognized as the Emperor’s Wrath. The excerpt is placed within a biography of her life. ___

__

__I still sometimes think about those awful days. I wasn’t sure whether or not Malavai would recover, regardless of what I told Jaesa. That first night...I kept vigil at his bedside, as it were, and I prayed. To who or what, I don’t know, but it was the first time I ever did so. I felt so helpless, watching him float in that tank as he fought for his life. I was terrified that he would be taken from me, and there was nothing I could do to prevent such an outcome. Even now, many years on, I can still feel that fear when I think about that image. I can hear him speaking to our daughter in the next room, and still I feel that primal, gnawing dread._ _

__

__After he was able to leave the tank, we had to decide what to do with Pierce. In the end, we had a lucky break: Major Ovech’s ship was nearby, and he agreed to take Pierce from us and hold him in the brig until he could be transported back to Kaas for court-martial. He also gave us a temporary replacement for Pierce, which we were eminently thankful for._ _

__

__With Pierce finally gone, we found that much of the tension within the crew lessened, and gradually disappeared. I had never realized how much of a toll his presence was taking on all of us; I thought it was limited to Malavai and myself. Thankfully his petty schemes to come between the two of us failed, although looking back, I regret not doing something about it sooner. In fact, I regret ever allowing him aboard my ship, but when we were on Taris, I still hadn’t gained confidence enough to refuse a direct order from a Moff. And it was an order, not a request. I think there was a good reason Moff Hurdenn didn’t consult me before assigning Pierce to my crew._ _

__

__But back to the incident; Malavai had to wear a leg brace the whole time we were on Corellia. I didn’t want to bring him into the field at all, but we didn’t exactly have a choice. We needed his strategic genius, or we’d never have accomplished anything. To this day, I doubt I’ve ever met a better strategist than him, although Evelina is certainly shaping up to take on that challenge. I worried constantly over him, and if I was indiscreet I think I earned that right._ _

__

__The final fight with Baras was bloody, but brief. Malavai was right, as usual: for all Baras’s power, I was stronger, and the price for his misjudgement of me and his manipulation of Malavai was his life._ _

__

__I didn’t truly reconcile with Vette until after Pierce’s trial. Try as I might, I couldn’t help but hold her somewhat responsible. Logically, I knew that she was only acting on what little information she had, and she at least hadn’t advocated for killing my beloved. She’d been as much a victim of Pierce’s machinations as the rest of us. But still, during that time on Corellia, whenever I saw Malavai stumble, or limp, or wince when he moved just a bit too fast, I seethed. I blamed her.__

__

The trial took place two days after we returned to Dromund Kaas. I don’t know how they managed it, but Malavai and Ovech had him charged with conspiracy to commit murder as well as intimidating Jaesa. I only knew about the intimidation and insubordination charges beforehand, and truthfully I didn’t think that the conspiracy charge was going to stay. I thought he’d be able to claim that he thought he was acting in my interest and get away with that part. But dear, brilliant Malavai, he had every interaction logged and recorded. I’d actually forgotten about the cameras onboard the _Valkyrie _; I never used them, having never really felt the need. If I wanted to know what was going on aboard my ship I would ask.__

__

__Stars, I-just thinking about it makes my blood run cold, even all these decades later. Jaesa told me of Pierce’s threat, true, but hearing about it secondhand is much different from seeing what happened. I could have killed him just for laying a hand on her, and I was seriously tempted. In fact, I think if Malavai and Jaesa hadn’t been with me, I would have, public eye and justice of law be damned. But I had to stay calm, especially for Jaesa’s sake. She was doing an admirable job of maintaining her composure, but I could see the toll this was taking on her._ _

__

__Ah, Jaesa. I have trained several other apprentices, all of them talented and powerful. But Jaesa was always the best and brightest of all my students. It was my privilege to watch her grow and blossom, and I am so proud of the woman she became. She never forgot this incident, and I could see her take to heart all the lessons it taught her. She became determined to be a shield, to protect those who couldn’t do so for themselves. So often I watched from her sidelines as she stared down Moffs, Generals, powerful Sith, Hutts twelve or more times her size. She took them on as if they were nothing. (And if I am especially proud that she learned how to do that from me, I think I have earned that right as well.) Jaesa grew to be a confident, determined woman, compassionate and kind to everyone. But best of all, she was happy, and eventually came to realize that her own happiness was something she had a right to._ _

__

__Pierce was dishonorably discharged, and sent to prison. I don’t know what happened to him after that, and frankly I don’t care. I didn’t want to spend any energy on him anymore, or spare him a single thought. And until now, I haven’t._ _

__

__I did eventually reconcile with Vette. It was a slow, painful process, and I sometimes wondered if it would ever succeed. I didn’t know if I would ever be able to look at her without seeing Malavai in the tank, feeling my heart wrench with agony. I wanted so badly to be able to forgive her; she had been my first real friend, as sad as it might seem. I still wonder what possessed her to try to befriend me sometimes. When we first met, she was a mouthy enslaved girl wearing a collar in a cage, being held and tormented on Korriban. She had made it her mission to aggravate the keeper of the cages, despite the shocks he kept giving her. I, on the other hand, was her exact opposite: nearly a decade her senior, unfeeling, humourless, unsmiling. I tried not to be cruel, but I couldn’t afford to be kind. Still, no matter how little I encouraged her, or how much I must have discouraged her, she never gave up. I felt I owed it to her to do the same._ _

__

__I truly forgave her shortly before my wedding. As trite and cliched as it may sound, I didn’t want to enter this new stage of my life carrying this weight. And I think we have been better friends for it._ _

__

__It has been many years since then. I’m an old woman now, and many of my closest friends and family have passed on. I can feel my time approaching as well, and I’m writing this down for posterity, I suppose. Valion thinks I should write my memoir, but I don’t think I have time for that now. I kept putting it off, I wanted to live my life, not write about it. But I feel this particular period of my life, at least, deserves to be written by me.__

__

__

_These words were written by Lady Quinn six months before she passed into the Force. Her husband, Moff Quinn, joined her not long after. After she was gone, he was never the same. ___

___ _

____

_Malavai and Finlee Quinn were my parents. Most people only ever knew them as Moff Quinn, honored advisor to the Empress, and as Darth Eira, Wrath of the Empire and great lady of the Sith. But I called them Mother and Father. ___

___ _

____

_They were remarkable people. ___

___ _

____

_-Lord Valion Quinn ___

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this whole betrayal bit makes no goddamn sense. If you're a dick to Quinn the whole rest of the game, fine, but if you're nice to him it makes no sense. It especially doesn't work if you romanced him beforehand. Because once you peel him out of his armor, he shows every sign of being a loving and devoted partner. 
> 
> And if you didn't romance him but were still nice, you're pretty good friends at that point, plus he's seen you take down literally every enemy that's been thrown at you with basically zero issues. The whole droids setup was never going to kill you, although I maintain that as smart as he is, he might have eventually come up with droid plans that could. But why go to all that effort when all he needs to do is slip something into your food and make it look like you had a heart attack or something? Ugh.
> 
> So yeah, I hate it, and this whole thing was basically my attempt to twist it into something that kind of made sense. Hope you enjoyed it.


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